Getting released from hospital

[itispersonal]

My DA had a fall (knocked over by a dog) almost 2 weeks ago has broken both wrists.

She had a water infection which caused delirium over the last first week in hospital but was told 4 days ago that she is now medically fit to go home (with a care package). The hospital has said from the beginning she would be having 4 carers in a day.

However my DA is still in hospital and no care package has been arranged by the hospital yet or a visit to her flat to see if it is safe for her to go home and she is still waiting to be assigned!

She does have many family members who can help in parts but not enough to fill her needs.

Is this normal?? Why is it taking no long to get her care sorted? Especially after the drs told her she was medically able to go home.

DA mental health is at an absolute low, she is adamant she will never get out and the hospital is trying to kill her!

We are visiting her everyday and people calling everyday to see what is happening but nothing is moving!

Social services have to provide the care package and they are understaffed to say the least.

The Discharge Team are the people to talk to about getting a care package started, regular District Nurse visits and to give the Community Team a 'heads up' about a vulnerable patient.

I did ring our adult social care team who put me through to duty at hospital . When they said she was waiting to be assigned, when I asked how that would take, they replied "how longs a piece of string. They have a massive back log".

Surely we aren't keeping adults in hospital for weeks waiting for care packages!'

We are

Shortage of care workers! My MIL was in this situation recently. She was medically fit and had a care plan, but no carers were available in her area.

It is heart wrenching!

Care workers are so poorly paid and then shafted with their mileage, I know I was when I did care work. It's still only 20p a mile and they do it as the crow flies or some other daft system.

I feel so sorry for my DA and wonder if we are better as a family to just sort care between us as a family, though not as often, morning and evening calls just to get her out!

Afraid so. There’s a big delay with discharge into care homes too - low staffing plus (although the rules may have changed now) 2 covid cases in the home means the home can’t admit new residents for 14 days

We definitely are keeping medically fit adults in hospital for weeks, months even waiting for social services to sort out packages of care or funding for care homes etc.

Thousands of them across the country. Each individual NHS hospital will have at least a couple of wards full of people trapped in hospital.

There is a huge shortage all over the country. My mum spent two nights in hospital last summer after a fall and then she was "fit for discharge" but because my husband and I said that we were not able to perform personal care for her she had to wait for an increased care package. While she was waiting her dementia and mobility issues that I had begged for help with became apparent so she was eventually transferred to a rehab unit and then into a home. She went into hospital on the 10th June and into the home at the end of October.

She has only been mffd for 4 days, that is nothing, unfortunately people are staying in hospitals for weeks waiting for care packages. If you offer to do 2 visits a day then she may get out earlier but she will be pushed even further back, they will assume you can look after her although 2 visits a day would not be enough if she cannot look after herself. Maybe a stay in rehab might come up. This is not a new situation.

Even if you are trying to get a care package privately it's difficult. We can't get a carer for FIL at weekends, the agency just don't have anyone and they were the only agency that could provide one carer once a day. No one else had capacity.

My brother was taken to hospital with a UTI over 5 weeks ago, he was ready to be discharged to a care home after 2 days. He's still in hospital waiting.

When dad went into hospital in December the man in the next bed had been waiting 5 weeks for a care package. He was still there 3 weeks later when dad died.

So many awfully long waits. We have managed to get Aunty home yesterday through her social worker and with 3 visits a day from carers.

Feel sorry for another lady who was on same ward as my Aunty who didn't have children or close extended family and she still waiting for a care package to be sorted.

My Aunty is looking she is one of 12 children, with younger brothers and sisters local as well as son and a couple of nieces who will help. Not sure many others would have this and fear a bit now for when I'm older only having 1 sister and 1 child!

Glad she is home now
We often have family calling us trying to arrange (private) care because hospital teams can't do it...we often can't help because we have no capacity!