Paying for Carer to attend Hospital Appointments

I do see the problem for the care home in that, if they send someone with your dad, they will be a man/woman down on that shift.

If it were me I would contact the Red Cross or local Age Concern as they very often have volunteers who can take this sort of thing on. Also the local SSD might be able to suggest something.

Iain It does seem hard but what would be the cost of the carer? Presumably a lot less than you taking time off work and travelling a long distance to go to the hospital.
How does your dad feel? Perhaps he would feel more comfortable with one of the family there, than with a carer?

The hospital can arrange transport if all else fails but there will be volunteer drivers too as mentioned. The problem with volunteers is that they don't wait with the patient. You Dad might prefer a carer he is familiar with but I would expect that, going on what Mum's care home charges per hour, that you could expect it to cost you £50 or so, more if the appointment is delayed. You have to bear in mind that the home will have to get an extra member of staff in t o cover.

The wonderful AgeUk can probably help or your local volunteer centre.

The sort of volunteer that you would get from the Red Cross etc. would be more than a voluntary driver - they would do what a carer would and stay with him and see him though the appointment.

I wonder what happens if the patient has no family? as has been suggested try Age UK..

Does your father not get regular visits from family members then?

I would contact the Red Cross. They may not be able to step in on a regular basis, but might be able to take up the slack when family members are unable to.
I found them really supportive. All the best.

Hi everyone, thank you for your replies.

The problem is that my dad lives in Leeds, as I do, I have 2 brothers and a sister who live in Bristol, Norwich and Ellesmere Port, all who have full-time jobs and children of their own. They do visit but usually during school holidays and come up for 2 or 3 days at a time. My dad has a sister in Leeds but she has a daughter with small children who she helps look after, she does visit regularly on an afternoon. The main problem is that my dad's hospital appointment could take all day as he is a wheelchair user unable to transfer, therefore we are reliant on hospital transport which can mean lots of waiting around. I have decided to take a day's leave from work as it will be the first time my father has had a hospital appointment since my mum died and I thought it best to go myself rather than a stranger.

I work full time and my employers aren't happy about this as I have just had 8 weeks off sick due to my mum's illness and subsequent death and am now on a 4 week phased return. The care home weren't able to tell us how much a carer would be. Although I obviously want to do as much as I can to help my dad, circumstances sometimes just won't allow it.

We are currently in touch with social services anyway as we have informed them of my mum's death and as my dad owns half the house we know he will have to start paying for his own care. We had lots of questions as you can imagine but after promising to reply a few weeks ago and us chasing them up they seem to be ignoring us.

Sorry to go on but this has been an extremely distressful time for us all.

So sorry to hear of all your troubles .

Hope you can get a resolution soooon .

I am sure your dad will appreciate you being with him Iain
So sorry for the loss of your mum and the difficult time you have had.

Ian what an awful time for you.

Ian you are between a rock and a hard place. I'm sorry that I have nothing positive to add to the many messages of good will from other members. You are doing your very best, in difficult circumstances. You deserve to have support. I wish you a satisfactory outcome.

It's hard to be in this position Ian but much better that you go with your Dad for this 'first'. This is a stressful time for all the family, but especially you being the one who lives closest.

You are not 'going on'. Please feel able to off-load and talk problems through

When you go with your dad to the hospital, ask at the Pals office. I think they still exist. In Leeds there should always be a volunteer there.

Iain What a sad and stressful time for you all, I'm sure your dad will really appreciate you being with him