Discharge to 4 week assessment in care home

[Trixieboo87]

Hi , my dad is currently in hospital awaiting equipment so as he can be discharged to a care home . He’s got a inflatable cushion on his armchair in the hospital as he finds it difficult to sit out without pain in his back and bottom due to weight loss
I had a call from the company that supplies equipment and they’ve only been instructed to provide a bed .
My dad won’t be able to get out of bed without a reclining chair and inflatable cushion
The hospital seem to be providing the bare minimal but I know that my dad won’t be able to sit in a basic arm chair for long .
Im finding it all very stressful

Don't the care home have things like a recliner and air filled cushions? Can you contact the Occupational Therapist?

It’s a complete joke , everyone is passing the buck as to who’s responsible.
Ive emailed the discharge team as through experience he’ll be discharged without the things he needs

Sadly @Trixieboo87 we had to buy the majority of things that DM needed when she had to go into a care home as they were pretty useless at sourcing them and simply didn’t have the time or budget.

The district nurse team in our area can order equipment including the cushions you are talking about… get in contact with the team linked to the GP practice your dad is registered with ?

The Red Cross have a variety of equipment for hire from regional centres.

You need to speak to the occupational health team either at the hospital or through the GP. My mum was discharged home with a bed, chair, footstool, hoist, commode, shower chair.

It’s been one big headache everyone seems to pass the buck , discharge team said ask social worker she says it’s not her job go back to discharge . I was about to put in a formal complaint as my dad can’t be discharged with out the things that he needs .
However I had a call today that a cushion was being delivered .

Contact the local hospital’s PALS team who can help you.

Also I’d ask for the occupational therapists to assess his needs prior to discharge.

Good luck.

Can he pay for a recliner himself ? You can often get them at a reasonable price second hand at charity shops, I know our local Age Uk shop does them, cleans them etc and re-sell. A pressure cushion can be bought very cheaply.

It's quite simple.

If your dad requires specific equipment in order to be discharged from hospital, then that has to be provided before he can be discharged in hospital. Go back to the duty social worker (whose job it is to free up beds in the hospital) and tell them this and then sit back and do nothing. Wait for them to make it happen. Stop doing things that they should be doing.

Hospital OT should be visiting the setting and putting any equipment needs in place. Failing that could he take the one from the hospital he is using (a lot gets chucked out otherwise).

I honestly can't believe anyone would advocate just stealing hospital equipment ? What are they to do - just wheel it out the ward and hope no-one notices?

Or are you talking about the cushion?

The cushion!

Aah ok apologies. However when I worked in hospitals for many years until recently, patients would never just take the pressure cushions with them. We ( the nurses ) washed / disinfected them thoroughly and they were used again. Do they have disposable/ one uses ones now?

Thankyou for all your replies I managed with a bit of a struggle to get the pressure cushion from the discharge team .
Nothing is easy I’ve been trying to get an outdoor wheelchair but apparently that can’t be done by the hospital but by his new GP & a referral . The cars home has wheelchairs but bit to be taken out .
I was talking to a lady visiting her dad in the hospital yesterday & she’s also being passed around and nobody will take responsibility for her dads equipment she’s been allocated a social worker that hasn’t been in touch .

Oh it’s so hard isn’t it @Trixieboo87
Just such a mess and you get passed around, everything takes days and weeks longer than it should. Everything always seems to be someone else’s problem to sort. A million different people and orgs to deal with. And the only way to get it done is to take on the job of Care Coordinator yourself. But remember there is only so much you can do. You only have so much time and energy. And this is a marathon not a sprint, so look after yourself .

All I can say is keep focused on getting your Dad out of hospital and into the care home with whatever minimum stuff that he absolutely needs for that. It will be a better environment for him. Even if it’s not perfect situ and he doesn’t immediately have everything he needs like the wheelchair.

The stuff will come if you keep nagging at people and chasing it up. It takes time and is painfully slow and horrid to see him stuck indoors or whatever. But you’ll get there and then things will be better.

@Daffidale You talk of the need to become "care co-ordinator". For me while caring for DM that was on of the hardest parts. There is so little interaction between the different professionals and no one tells you who you need to speak to.

When I tried to organise a wheelchair for my mum I was passed from pillar to post until I asked the GP during an appointment. He was a locum and had no idea but found out for me and set me off on the right route.

I know things vary between one local authority and the next but surely it wouldn't be too much effort for someone to provide carers with a directory of who to call for what service.

In my area we don't provide chairs such as riser recliner for people but point them in the direction where to buy or rent one. If they are in a care home the care home is expected to provide it but this rarely seems to happen. Sometimes the daily will rent one for them to see if they like it.

Outdoor only wheelchairs aren't provided either in my trust. Again they would be directed to places to rent or buy.