Uncle in hospital after a fall what do we need to consider next

[billybagpuss]

Sunday night DU fell down the stairs and was unable to move until dad dropped his paper off the next morning, thank god he heard him as he just shoves it through the letter box as du has been shielding.

Today he needs to have an operation to put a pin in his legs as the break was so bad, he also has advanced prostate cancer.

I think there will be 3 possible scenarios:

1. he will come home with some sort of care package, at least in the short term as his mobility is going to be massively impaired.
2. We’ll have to find some form of assisted independent living, as I think stairs and upstairs toilets are going to be difficult
3. He will need more full time care, it’s early days but I think this is unlikely yet.

Please can you help me come up with a list of things I need to consider as I’m likely to be hearing things 2nd hand through dad, who will absolutely need and want my help but isn’t as reliable as he used to be at getting all the information.

Thank you

This happened to my mum and she was in hospital for a month after the op recuperating.

She then came home and declined the pic as she was coping - this was the right thing for her as she would have become dependent.

Each scan aria is different obviously- like how old is DU? Can he live downstairs for a while? Does he own his property?

If he comes out with a POC this will likely be reviewed by a social worker after a while if it looks like it will need to be ongoing.

It is unlikely he will go straight into care but he may go to a discharge to assess bed perhaps.

Ultimately if he has mental capacity all of this is up to him.

Does he have a social worker?

“He also has Advanced prostrate cancer”- it often spreads to bone cancer and fractures become more likely. Could this be the case? In which case I would push for him to stay home as long as possible (if it can be adapted) and then hospice for last stages of cancer. The idea is to prolong comfort and quality of life for as long as possible in a familiar surrounding and move to a hospice not too late so a person settles in there properly and can let go in a supported way. Handhold for you and your dad too OP. Hopefully you will get some more clarity on the cancer aspect too.

Consider a short stay in care home as a halfway house to get him mobile and confident while not having to worry about meals etc. Can he afford to self fund or is it reliant on social care? A care home will visit near discharge to assess his needs and discuss care.

Make sure there is an ot assessment of his house before discharge from hospital or nursing home.
They can provide commodes, bed rails, Zimmer frames, etc etc.
Also a lifeline emergency pendant.
There should b3 a hospital sw to help discharge- we found this really helpful.

You’ll be guided through most of the process by hospital Social Care team and discharge team, although the types of decisions are going to depend a bit on how well he mends and whether he’d be funding his own future care or not. Get DU to be very clear with the hospital who he wants involved in decisionmaking (just him, your DF, you, whoever) and make sure everyone in the family respects that so there aren’t any Chinese whispers. Consider getting Power of Attorney in place just in case.

Thank you everyone so far, it’s very helpful, especially to see it written down as everything is swimming around in my head at the moment.

He will be self funding, his house at the moment is a clutter mountain so that will need to be sorted before he can move home But obviously we don’t want to get started On that out of respect for his privacy. So far all I’ve done is wash up, put the bins out and made it secure.

He may be offered a re-ablement package, which is basically care at home (or in a care home) to help him get back on his feet. It lasts until they decide it's not needed any more, or they decide he needs long term care (in which case you transfer to social services and care has to be paid for) - but the maximum period you can get it for is 6 weeks.

Also be aware things can move very fast. If the hospital decide at lunchtime he cab be discharged they'll want him out before tea time.

Once you've had time to draw breath, if he's self funding, then apply for Attendance Allowance which isn't means tested. Every little helps. And the fact it's been given may help the elderly person feel safer about spending it (they're not spending their own savings). My mother called it her "squander money" and used it to buy things that made her life bearable which otherwise she would have done without.