The hospital admission merry-go round

28 replies

pineforest · 05/10/2025 20:21

I know I won’t be the only one, but I am exhausted by my father’s seemingly never ending hospital admissions.

He is 77 and has stage 4 prostate cancer as well as mobility issues and severe swelling (edema) in the legs meaning he is basically housebound. He is also overweight due to lack of mobility.

For the last 12 months we have been trapped in an endless cycle. He will be admitted to hospital due to an infection. These seem to switch between a UTI and cellulitis of the leg. He’ll be there a week on antibiotics. We get him home, spend 2-3 weeks trying to get him back to his normal routine only for a week later him to end up back in hospital again.

We have a district nurse visit twice a week to clean and dress his legs. He also has a carer twice a day (only for 15 mins a time). But it’s exhausting. Everytime I think he’s back on the up….ill get the call saying he’s taken a turn again and ends up back in A&E.

Today I get that call from my brother who says dad isn’t well, leg is hot and he is confused. So ambulance called and he is admitted again for cellulitis and more antibiotics.
The hospital can’t seem to give me an answer on why this keeps happening and how we can stop the cycle. They just say once you’ve had cellulitis you’re more prone to it and his cancer also means his immune system is low.
I don’t want to lose my dad (my mum passed say last year) but his quality of life is so poor with these constant admissions and infections. He keeps saying he doesn’t want to be here anymore.

I’m not sure what I want anyone to say, I guess I just needed to write it all down.

OP posts:

Assssofspades · 31/10/2025 14:41

SleepingisanArt · 31/10/2025 14:17

@Assssofspades - LPA requires certification these days which entails somebody (not family or their partners) to talk through the whole process with the person giving permission for the LPA. The person needs to have known the person for quite some time too, minimum 3 years i think. The alternative is to use a lawyer or an independent social worker who specialise in the area of capacity, mental health and the Human Rights Act. The latter is the route we used. The forms can be completed online but they have to be printed, signed by the right people in the right order and then posted to the Office of the Public Guardian. It then takes a minimum of 8 weeks for the LPA to be granted. LPA for health and welfare can only be used once the person is deemed no longer to have capacity (unlike the one for finance which can start immediately).

There is absolutely no need for assistance with an LPA, it is easily done online (if the person has capacity) My parents and grandparents both have them and I have done them for myself and my husband.

https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

Details here.

Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney

How to make a lasting power of attorney (LPA): starting an application online, choosing an attorney, certifying a copy, changing an LPA.

https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

CatchCat · 31/10/2025 17:20

Mycatissohandsome · 05/10/2025 20:47

It isn't a 'fragility' ward either but available for anyone who is acutely unwell. The majority of our patients are over 70 but we have many in their 50s and above.

He should have a respect form instead of the old DNAR forms which were phased out a while ago. For a lot of our patients who have repeated admissions they choose care at home over going in and the respect form can reflect this. The District Nurses should be referring for community care as first line not straight to A&E, there is so many more treatments available at home now and we only send folk in if we really really have to.

https://www.england.nhs.uk/virtual-wards/

Edited

A “Respect” form sounds so much better than “DNR” form too.

Myoldbear · 31/10/2025 17:51

My Mum kept getting cellulitis, was in and out of hospital for it. Antibiotics course was never longer than a week.

It always seemed to go for a short time after intravenous antibiotics and then the course of pills at home, but soon returned, so off she went back to hospital.

Eventually I had a proper talk with her doctor, and he prescribed ongoing antibiotics for some months. She gradually took fewer, then stopped altogether and the cellulitis did not return. Previous courses were too short.

I also put Cetreben cream on her legs each day as a precaution once they were healed.

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