flies swarming at window, no answer door, house chock full of rubbish

[Thundercrackers]

that's just it really. Elderly-ish lady living a few doors down, no family nearby, hasn't put her rubbish out this week and no light on this evening.
Am I just being the worst curtain-twitcher ever or is thia actually very concerning? I got the shivers seeing all those flies. Do you think I should ring the council in the morning and see of there's someone who could pop round and check she's ok? I don't think o could cope if it turned out she was suffering in any way and I ignored her. However, perhaps she just likes living in a crap tip? oh dear, what should I do? (off for a fret)

MoreBeta - my sister-in-law is an ex-police officer and she used to get called to this kind of thing sometimes. When she was still quite new she got a call from an anxious daughter who had not heard from her mum for a while. She searched the house and eventually found the lady in her bed, midday. Eyes closed etc. She made the obvious assupmtion and went to do the routine pulse/respiraitons checks before calling for the ambulance. The woman's eyes popped open and she said, very cheerily 'hello, dearie!' My sister-in-law said she almost dropped dead herself in terror! Turns out she'd had a cold and had taken herself to bed for a few days. Kudos to the police who have to do this kind of thing on a regular basis.

How about someone who knows how these things work (ie not me ) get tweeting tis story. MN'er with help from MN saves ladies life?. Type of thing. The OP wasn't going to phone until urged to do so?

Thank God. And well done OP.

WhenWhyWhere, I think that could potentially lead to the intrision on the life of a vulnerable woman.

Good morning ladies! Thank you all again for your help last night- together we may have saved a life! (well, actually- you all did, I was the one dithering about cluelessly wondering who to call and what to do!). I think I'll ask mumsnet to delete all this today, just out of respect for the old lady. However, I might also email the police to ask if they could publicly highlight the 101 service and the help they can provide in these situations. I honestly had no idea they could help and, with cold weather on the way, I'd like to make sure other clueless neighbours like me are better educated about how to look out for and support the elderly. I have a baby son and the idea of him being old, cold, alone and vulnerable one day has actually made me cry this morning! Thank you again, everyone.

I used to manage a residential estate. One large Victorian House had been separated into flats decades ago. All the flats were empty – except one, which was occupied by an elderly lady under the fair rent scheme – so she had the right to live there for life. As soon as these properties became vacant the landlord’s policy was to convert them back into houses, do them up and sell them on for huge profits.

The annual inspection time came so I went to visit her. It was obvious she wasn’t coping and pretending it was part of the property inspection I looked in her kitchen cupboards and saw that they were empty – no food at all. So I phoned social services. They turned up within an hour and provided her with some basic supplies. When I got back to the office my boss hauled me before his desk, and red faced and spitting with rage he screamed incoherently at me. When he was capable of getting his words out he shouted that I had interfered with our tenant’s privacy and how dare I take it upon myself to phone social services without asking him first. I left that job a few weeks later. I subsequently heard that the lady died a few weeks after that but her corpse wasn’t found for a month.

The property was then sold for a vast profit.

Well done OP [sniff]

So glad this worked out much better than it could have done, OP.

That sounds like a good plan re e-mailing the police to publicise the service. I'm sure this will be one of the times where they don't mind having their time 'wasted' if it turns out to be nothing.

I think dithering is probably natural. You don't think things like this will happen do you try to rationalise it and think 'oh it's probably nothing'. Much easier to sit on a computer removed from the situation and give advice. The important thing is you took that advice.

What a great thing you did OP

You did a good thing, you saved her life. Well done.

MN Neighbour of the year

That's really good news Thundercrackers just shows you did the right thing. She is lucky that you noticed and cared enough to call for help. I'm so glad she is okay, for both her and you

I'm so glad this turned out well. Well done you and well done the Mumsnet collective! Hope the lady is alright.

So glad this all worked out well.

Well done OP.

Well done Thunder. I was lurking last night and thinking about that poor lady this morning.

I hope when I'm old I have a lovely neighbour like you to keep an eye on me.

Well done crackers

Ahh, I had the dentist this morning si haven't been able to check in before now, what a relief!,well done thunder

Why delete it? It's a great story and the type of thing that could get loads of publicity for the '101' service. Anything that encourages neighbours to look about for elderly neighbours has to be a good thing.

OP there is nothing on here that is identifiable to you or the neighbour.

The fact the police came so very quickly (with a battering ram?) is good too.

I would still love to know the story behind the flies .

This is a very newsworthy story.

Good job, OP. We need more people like you.

I agree please don't delete it, I think we should get it saved to classic threads. Might help people know what to do in similar circumstances. I don't think its disrespectful as the lady is not identified in any way.

So glad it worked out OK.

Well done OP. So glad this story had a happy ending.

I think this is a good example of how we should all keep a discreet eye out for our elderly neighbours - especially if we know they have no relatives nearby who call in regularly.

My DF died suddenly a couple of months ago leaving my elderly DM living on her own, with none of us living near by. We immediately set up a signal between my DM & her NDN regarding curtains being opened by a certain time and we gave both the (longstanding) neighbours on each side a door key so they could access the house if there was a problem. It gives both my DM & us peace of mind. She now also has an alarm call pendant so she can press fro help if she falls.

One of my neighbours lives alone. She is physically very able for her age so doesn't really need our help, but we keep an eye out for evidence of activity as her sons live out of the country and whilst she is active now, she may not be able to call for help if she was ill.

Agree = don#t felete it is a lovely thread :)

unlike my typing