Home care package for 92 year old father

The irony is that this is exactly what has happened to me 130 miles from Dad. I was diagnosed with one fracture in my foot and after 7 weeks in plaster was told all was well and sent on my merry way. About 7 weeks of nil mobility later it was found that the first fracture had not healed and that I had a second undiagnosed fracture which was also unhealed + previously undiagnosed tendon damage.

It is spooky that these two things have been happening together - which is why I am doubly angry.

I do not know what we will do about Dad - like most people we do not want to make a fuss and feel sufficiently beset with problems at present that we find it hard to find the energy to make any more fuss.

The real concern is that prior to this new diagnosis, they were lugging him about, making him sit out in spite of the pain, getting him to walk when he was yelling in pain. Now they say he needs to be in bed to heal -although I realise that this carries its own health problems.

I just feel so sad that he has been through all this and we have felt powerless to help him. Maybe we will complain when we feel a bit less beset.

ABC - it would be good to know the name of this company; although he did have a previous care package that we managed to sort out and we hope that if/when he is able to go home, they will be able to reinstate this.

Hi Where do you live as i know of a company that helps you search for carers for free?

If more people spoke out things would surely improve. I hope you feel you can.

Mishap Speak out! Make your feelings known. Surely this is another case of gross neglect. I'm prepared to sign a petition if it would help to get your message across.

It's diabolical negligence.

That is desperate

Words fail me mishap

Complain to the health authority and the daily mail!

Latest update..... my sister and I composed a letter to the consultant, which I emailed to him on Monday. It was basically saying that Dad is going doolally on opiate painkillers for a pain in his R hip/pelvis which is undiagnosed and wouldn't it be a great idea to find out what the pain is being caused by.

He then phoned my sister to say that they would investigate why he is in such pain on his R side and they would move him to the main ward where he can get help if needed.

I nagged again this morning on the phone and got a doctor to ring my sister with the x-ray results - he has "several" fractures in his R pelvis as well as the 2 on the left. These have gone undiagnosed for 2 months, in spite of prescibing opiates for his intolerable pain at that site. I cannot help but ask why they have only just found this out and why we had to write a letter to get them to look into it. Unbelievable.

The irritates me about the care our parents are getting [and presumably us when the time comes] is that we should just enjoy visiting them and chatting to them when all we seem to do is chase around trying to sort things out before they become a huge disaster.

When I went on Friday I checked on Mum's medication chart (why do I feel the need to do that?) to discover she had not had something just before bed the previous evening. I told the Manager who said that the night staff had probably forgotten to log it We checked Mum's drugs cabinet and it did look, from the blister pack, as though she had actually had it. That's ok then!

Luckily, the three of us all live near enough to manage to visit Mum every other day between us but, as Mishap said, what if she didn't have any family to check?

[Finger crossed] emoticon.

Appointment on 25th - it's a wait and see!

Don't feel guilty. Your OH needs you and, as my DD2 tells me, you must put on your own oxygen mask before helping others. Look after yourself or you can't look after others. I know it's easier said than done - I've been visiting mum most days but still end up drowning my guilt most evenings - I hope my liver can take it!

How are you by the way? Any sign of loosing the crutches?

Thanks - it is such a worry - I am on a total guilt trip at the moment as I should be down there, but being on crutches and having OH with PD is getting in the way - but I should be there. If only we could relax and be sure of good care.

Sorry Mishap I pressed the key before I'd sent you

It's a real b****r this old age business. We're having similar problems with my mum although the carers she had at home were good she deteriorated and now she's been in hospital for three weeks now while the doctors look for a diagnosis and we try to sort care out. (It should all be alright in the end - if she lives long enough.) I went in to visit today. It's a nice new hospital but there must be around 40 elderly patients in her ward - 4 x 6 bed rooms and the rest single rooms - but as far as I could see there were only two nurses around, doing their best, rushed off their feet from one bed pan request to the next. It's been like that every weekend.

Meant to say mishap is a worry in my late father in law home it was the quality of staff not amount sadly.

In evening they used to leave him in desperate need of care he was doubly incontinent and we would find at least 2 nurses on cigarette break!

Was very stressful and he was paying enormous sums of money for that!

We found the same kitty when my dear late father in law was in home was constant checking up and luckily he was very near so could visit 2 or 3 times week spent all his savings on care bless him

Mishap so frustrating for you and a huge worry. One expects that hospital is a safe environment. He is lucky to have you watching over him.

We find that having Mum in a home is almost as stressful as when she was living in her own home. We have to check on things all the time and we are paying quite a bit for the privilege! Luckily, we only live 12 miles away.

We are so looking forward to getting Dad back to his home with his care package. Even though they went ion for such a short time, they were kind and caring.

I rang him today on his mobile in hospital and the first thing he said was that he was cold - he went on to say that he was naked - he had been washed then left in his single room without putting his clothes on. He could not reach his buzzer (and then tried to with much clattering and cries of pain). I feared he would fall out of bed whilst trying to get the buzzer, so I had to ring the ward and get them to go and sort him out. This sort of micromanagement of someone's care from 130 miles away is crazy - we had to do it when he was in his residential home NHS rehab placement too.

And the poor souls who have no family fighting their corner?

The nurses are meeting themsleves coming back - there are 28 difficult frail elderly patients on the one ward. They were most apologetic.

MIL's carer brought her a bunch of daffodils.

Very useful info SCIE - thanks very much.

Eventually we did find an agency who could cover the package, but Dad only lasted about 12 hours before finishing up in hospital where he remains at the moment - he has been quite unwell from side effects of the analgesia. Thye are struggling to get this right for him. The agency have offered to honour the package for 8 weeks - which is very decent of them as he only had 2 visits before he had to return to hospital.

Useful info.
My SIL recently grappled with this on behalf of MIL. . MIL has a very small care company (just 2 people) who are very nice. Met one this morning. Lovely woman. She also pays her friend a few hours a week to do cleaning and laundry and she has to be "on the books". No NI as she is over 60 but it has to be official employment not a cash transaction.
A very complicated system - the advantage is that the individual has more control over their package.

Personal assistants can be a great alternative to a residential care home as they can offer users more freedom and independence. While there’s no regulation of directly employed personal assistants, many will have a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check from previous employment, or nursing or medical qualifications. The most important thing to consider is finding the right personality – someone your dad feels comfortable with and who you are confident will offer him the right kind of care.

Agencies that employ home care workers (often called domiciliary care agencies) do have to be registered with CQC. Some of these organisations employ the staff directly, and some act as agencies for freelance care workers. And of course some of them will provide 24 hour live in care if that is what you require.

If your father did employ someone directly, he would be responsible for payroll management, health and safety checks, and taking out relevant insurance policies. This can be a confusing world for many people, but Find Me Good Care, a free online resource that helps people to understand care and support options might be able to help. Hopefully our page on employing personal assistants will answer any questions you have, and can point you in the right direction for next steps: http://www.findmegoodcare.co.uk/good-care-planner/care-and-the-law/employing-personal-assistants

Can AgeUK help you with the information you need?