Hospital want discharge and just told DM has Covid

[Lorrymum]

My DM went into hospital on Christmas Eve. She had fallen but fortunately no broken bones. However X-rays showed historic fractures and she also has digestion issues and dementia. She has gone from being fairly mobile to not being able to walk. Today we were told she now has covid.
Hospital are very keen to send her home and we have (sister and I) spoken to various people in hospital all with different opinions. We have now been told she will be home on Saturday. We are not convinced that she is well enough but hospital feel that she will cope if she sleeps downstairs with a commode and carers visiting twice daily. We have to arrange both a commode and for a suitable bed to be installed but haven't a clue who to contact or how this can all be done before Saturday.
Do elderly people still require proper care plan before discharge? This all feels rushed and not properly thought through.

Thank you for all the helpful suggestions. They are very much appreciated.
I understand that the hospital needs her bed but this feels very rushed and ill thought out.
It is ironic that both myself and my sister are in our 60s. The very group of people the NHS are telling to avoid covid.

Lorrymum I said this before, From what I’m seeing in hospital it’s not the older otherwise well people who are getting seriously ill with covid it’s those who are already acutely unwell. Your mother bring in hospital increases the chances one of those patients catching it from her. However they can’t send your mother home without the equipment or care in place.

Have you managed to speak to anyone yet @Lorrymum?

I can’t see them being able to put everything in place in a few days op It can be remarkably quick when they’re providing all the equipment. Dad was discharged, half an hour after he got home the OT arrived, then the SW. Equipment arrived that afternoon, carers started next morning, and Meals on Wheels.

You really need to stop telling the OP about her own DMs medical history. Unless you haven't read the details properly, she'd be very vulnerable by anyone's definition.

Piggywaspushed her mother is considered medically fit so obviously isn’t very ill with covid. The OP is worried about catching it from her as she is over 60. I was just saying from my experience vaccinated older people are not getting very I’ll with it unless they are already acutely unwell. I think this is what the post is really about. Just trying to be helpful really.

@headstone my FIL was considered medically fit for discharge with covid, stage 4 cancer, unstable diabetes and very high fall risk . He was re-admitted 4 days later so I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about how OP's mum's condition.

It's hardly surprising that the hospital wants the bed.

Obviously there is a need for a short-term solution, which is complicated by Covid, but given that the OP's mother has dementia, amongst other problems, I'm wondering if the time has come to consider a longer-term solution. Could she move in with the OP or her sister? Are live-in carers an option. What are the options for residential care?

She is coming home tomorrow. Apparently she can now ( amazingly )walk upstairs, according to nurse and bed and commode no longer thought to be needed. Carers are to come in twice daily. My sister is currently trying to arrange food delivery.

Sounds like the potential to go badly wrong.
Ask them who is accompanying her to the toilet between carers. Doing her shopping and washing etc? They're banking on you propping up the situation. Refuse.
I would cancel the food shop and tell the ward you're stepping back and doing nothing. Think long term.

If she can now walk then she wouldn't need to be accompanied to the toilet between carers.

The most she could have is 4x calls a day, anything more than that would be either a live in cater, or residential / nursing home.

After caring for various oldies and going through multiple discharges, I have to agree with @cptartapp

I would question what their version of 'she can now walk' is. Especially as there is no downstairs loo and no supervision on the stairs between carer visits.
Disastrous.

That’s false information.

I know a lot of people who have been very unwell with covid both young and old and fully jabbed.

Munches have they actually been admitted to hospital with it? This is not my experience at all.

What exactly is your medical experience and knowledge headstone?

The hospital will need the bed back. It sounds like she needs to be in a proper care home. How old is she?

I’ve worked on hospital wards throughout the pandemic piggy, there is a real difference between what it was like at the beginning and now for the patients. I’m not an expert but have experienced it first hand. Also the ITU beds are not full of covid patients like they used to be. Unfortunately covid is still bad for certain hospital patients. It is really better for medical fit patients to go home and then family find a nursing home. It sounds like this lady is at her baseline before going into hospital and the bed is needed. If they think she can manage without family help they will send her anyway as the bed is needed.

Why does she need a care home? She has obviously recovered well enough in terms of her mobility to manage to be mobile to and from the toilet during the day and to manage the stairs. That's not to say she's not a falls risk, but the answer to our social care crisis is not to put patients like this in care homes! She has a home! Carers morning and evening to help with washing and dressing. If that's not enough it can be increased. Patients with dementia will normally do much better in their own home environment compared to some busy hospital ward.

Because as PP has already said the most she will get is carers 4 times daily and if she’s a fall risk she’ll inevitably end up in A&E again with that level of care.

My Mum needs urgent life saving heart surgery. She has had to wait 3 days for a hospital bed to become available for her. In the nicest way yes your Mum can go home - the hospital needs free beds for URGENT patients.

I agree. Hospitals aren’t for people who are just ‘poorly’ any more.

Is there a downstairs toilet? When dm only had an upstairs one she avoided drinking to minimise the need which caused other problems. She may well lack confidence initially or be unsteady. Ideally the carers will get her up, see her downstairs, organise food/medication then get her to bed later, but carer visits are often not at regular or ideal times to suit a routine. Have you got a keysafe?

As an ex district nurse I know what the hospital claim are someone's abilities are very often nowhere near reality.
This is sadly why many elderly are in and A&E like a revolving door, filling up wards and blocking beds. Lots would do better and be safer with 24/7 care, and in the absence of the old 'convalescent hospitals' if that means a care home, even for respite, then facing reality would save a lot of heartache, stress and NHS resources all round.
For someone with dementia, there's only one way this is heading. Many patients in this instance will simply be in the floor and back in within several days. It's very short sighted.
The only way to avoid this if the hospital is insistent is for family to withdraw the presumed support. Carers can't prepare food if there is none in the house.

Worked on hospital wards in what capacity?