MIL has just been sent home from hospital after an operation and a period of recovery. We went over to settle her in, did shopping and so on. We spent a while putting all her meds into the dispenser had a cup of tea then left her, she was totally exhausted and couldn't wait to go up and have a sleep.
Within an hour she rang us to say she had fallen and couldn't get up, luckily we are very close by so DH is over there with her, waiting for an ambulance.
DH had been telling staff at both the hospitals she was in that she lived alone, has Alzheimer's and should not be discharged until an appropriate care package was in place.
They have completely ignored him. We checked her discharge paperwork and it states that they asked her if she wanted help at home and she said no - and they just took her at her word.
They clearly hadn't checked her notes, or it wasn't in her notes, that she lacks proper capacity to make decisions, during her hospital stay they had to put her under a Deprivation of Liberty Order for a time as she was being so difficult when they stopped her anti-psych medication.
DH has been telling them over and over and over again that there was a big risk sending her home they have ignored him and this has happened and I am just fuming about it. It was completely avoidable and now she's headed straight back to hospital again!
Elderly parents
Beyond furious with hospital discharge
TonTonMacoute · 12/05/2022 17:47
TonTonMacoute · 12/05/2022 19:40
It happens all the time Blankets, it's so depressing.
PermanentTemporary · 12/05/2022 17:51
That's absolutely shit. Sorry to say this but I would get a formal complaint off to PALS pronto. If there's a copy of the discharge letter around, copy in the doctor who signed it.
Key phrases: unsafe discharge; diagnosis of dementia; mental capacity assessment of ability to decide on discharge destination.
Evasmissingletter · 13/05/2022 09:31
And yet your husband knew there was no appropriate care package in place ….An elderly lady post operation with Alzheimers, known to be a risk , and your husband despite living nearby decided it was Ok to leave her. Why didn’t he stay with her if he was so concerned?
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PrisonerofZeroCovid · 13/05/2022 10:01
In fact she had fallen off the loo, which sticks out into the bathroom and has no support on either side. One of those units that fit round a loo with big handles to hold onto would have prevented this accident and a professional would have spotted it straight away
And you spotted it and know what it is she needs. So why not just get it done? You said she has money for care, so just arrange for handles to be fitted and pay for it.
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