Care home refusing to cooperate

In your mum’s case then Glorianny the nurse would have been the care coordinator, or at least that is the norm in most community teams. I’d assume without knowing the individual circumstances that the physio was covering some of the OT duties as well because the team was short staffed. In integrated community teams the social worker would coordinate homecare cover ie care staff who were not part of the nursing team, but who would assist with personal care tasks.

Casdon

Glorianny

Apologies Casdon I have checked and the hospital has an OT service. It says they deal with elderly patients, but honestly my mum never saw one and the physion came to her flat.

I’m sure that’s often the case. Each patient who will need home assessment and care is allocated a lead professional before they are discharged home, and that person coordinates to make sure that whichever other staff are needed are involved to make the discharge as safe and smooth as possible. The lead professional is usually from the service which will be most involved after discharge. So for example if somebody needs a lot of nursing care the nurse will lead, if their main need is physio the physiotherapist will lead, etc.

Sorry mum's need was nursing care, but the physio did all the external assessment and seemed to be doing other people's as well when we talked to her. The social worker coordinated things. And as I said no OT at all.

Glorianny

Apologies Casdon I have checked and the hospital has an OT service. It says they deal with elderly patients, but honestly my mum never saw one and the physion came to her flat.

I’m sure that’s often the case. Each patient who will need home assessment and care is allocated a lead professional before they are discharged home, and that person coordinates to make sure that whichever other staff are needed are involved to make the discharge as safe and smooth as possible. The lead professional is usually from the service which will be most involved after discharge. So for example if somebody needs a lot of nursing care the nurse will lead, if their main need is physio the physiotherapist will lead, etc.

Your DP will have a care plan in place OP .....the staff will be guided by this .....see what it says

Apologies Casdon I have checked and the hospital has an OT service. It says they deal with elderly patients, but honestly my mum never saw one and the physion came to her flat.

Casdon

Occupational therapists are still heavily involved with patient assessment and discharge too though Glorianny, their focus is around ensuring people can live safely at home rather than therapy for their mobility. Aids to daily living come under the remit of the OTs, so ramps, rails, stairlifts, bath aids etc. all require an OT assessment.

All of that was done by the physio and the social worker for my mother. They came out to her flat measured and assessed where the bed would go and what equipment would fit. In 3 months in hospital she never saw an OT. I don't think there are any in the major hospital she was in. The OT dept in the major hospital she worked in closed down some time ago,
There may be a few trusts with OTs but most are using physios.

Occupational therapists are still heavily involved with patient assessment and discharge too though Glorianny, their focus is around ensuring people can live safely at home rather than therapy for their mobility. Aids to daily living come under the remit of the OTs, so ramps, rails, stairlifts, bath aids etc. all require an OT assessment.

Primrose53

Glorianny

Physios like most NHS staff are overwhelmed with work. They have to prioritise patients, and elderly patients who require help to stand are prioritised, because as one told my mum "People who are just left in bed can die." My mum had a fractured pelvis and was reluctant to move because of the pain. "That's where you are supposed to die" was her reply.
Physios alo often have to do home assessments and accompany patients on home visits as well.

They’re not overworked and haven’t been for years! In the days when they examined patients, manipulated them etc they might have been but those days are long gone.

It’s Occupational Therapists who sometimes do home visits and assessments to see what “aids” are needed not physios.

I'm afraid you are a bit out of date.OTs and their aids did do those tasks. My mum was an OT aid. She also assessed older people before they were discharged ensuring that they could manage to prepare simple food like tea and toast, besides providing creative tasks for long term patients. No longer. The OT dept my mum worked in has closed down.
Physios are now doing some of the things OTs did besides trying to manage a huge caseload of elderly patients who need assistance.

Primrose53

Glorianny

Physios like most NHS staff are overwhelmed with work. They have to prioritise patients, and elderly patients who require help to stand are prioritised, because as one told my mum "People who are just left in bed can die." My mum had a fractured pelvis and was reluctant to move because of the pain. "That's where you are supposed to die" was her reply.
Physios alo often have to do home assessments and accompany patients on home visits as well.

They’re not overworked and haven’t been for years! In the days when they examined patients, manipulated them etc they might have been but those days are long gone.

It’s Occupational Therapists who sometimes do home visits and assessments to see what “aids” are needed not physios.

Physiotherapists do make home visits Primrose53, I don’t know where you got the idea that they don’t from. They each carry individual patient caseloads, and in the community teams they provide direct physiotherapy to patients in their own homes as well as being integral to the discharge process. Your personal experience doesn’t give you an insight into their roles.

Glorianny

Physios like most NHS staff are overwhelmed with work. They have to prioritise patients, and elderly patients who require help to stand are prioritised, because as one told my mum "People who are just left in bed can die." My mum had a fractured pelvis and was reluctant to move because of the pain. "That's where you are supposed to die" was her reply.
Physios alo often have to do home assessments and accompany patients on home visits as well.

They’re not overworked and haven’t been for years! In the days when they examined patients, manipulated them etc they might have been but those days are long gone.

It’s Occupational Therapists who sometimes do home visits and assessments to see what “aids” are needed not physios.

If you are considering NHS physios give up now, all they do is give you and exercise sheet, if you are lucky they give you a demonstration but that’s all.

I'd have to disagree with you there, Glorianny. My mother spent 16 weeks in hospital. The Physio came to see her shortly after her admission to hospital for pneumonia and a UTI. She was too frail to walk so the Physio said she should be hoisted if she was to sit out. She never saw another Physio in all that time even though she was well enough to be discharged after 4 weeks so by the time she left hospital, her muscles in her legs had deteriorated. She will never walk again.

Physios like most NHS staff are overwhelmed with work. They have to prioritise patients, and elderly patients who require help to stand are prioritised, because as one told my mum "People who are just left in bed can die." My mum had a fractured pelvis and was reluctant to move because of the pain. "That's where you are supposed to die" was her reply.
Physios alo often have to do home assessments and accompany patients on home visits as well.

I should have said my Mum was 92 when she fell over but very mobile. The physio who saw her in hospital just sat and chatted to her about her accent, where she came from etc. Mum liked that and assumed he would come back but he never did!

The second hospital was 6 week stay and I repeatedly asked for a physio to see Mum so she didn’t lose her mobility altogether but they never materialised. She became very stiff and the only time she got any exercise was when I walked her down the corridors. It was a small cottage type hospital and not at all busy but they never made time to get patients to exercise even a bit. I know for certain that Mum’s mobility really suffered after 9 weeks in hospital.

What does your husband want to do? Maybe he's more comfortable in his current tilting chair?

eazybee

At least speak to the NHS physiotherapists first and discuss their reasons for their care of your husband.

Definitely. If your husband is is receiving the six weeks NHS funding under the Assess to Discharge scheme you can’t employ private elements of care independently, and a private physiotherapist wouldn’t go into a care home without a referral from an NHS physiotherapist.

FindingNemo15

Primrose53 I could have written your post. My DH had the same physio, or rather lack of physio when he has been in hospital and a care home each time.

They do nothing and half the time do not even turn up.

Sorry to hear your husband has had a similar experience.
I remember going to NHS physio many years ago and they actually examined you, manipulated you a bit and sometimes offered you a TENS machine or come back for a few more sessions of exercises.

I think it’s an incredible waste of time, effort and money training physios and paying them well to hand out leaflets.

At least speak to the NHS physiotherapists first and discuss their reasons for their care of your husband.

You’ve confirmed what I think
So I had better engage a private physio I think

Primrose53 I could have written your post. My DH had the same physio, or rather lack of physio when he has been in hospital and a care home each time.

They do nothing and half the time do not even turn up.

NHS Physiotherapy is hopeless. It stopped being hands on years ago. If you get referred to one they just hand you a photocopied leaflet of exercises to do at home.

NHS physio in hospitals is no better. You are lucky if you can get to see one and when you do it’s more talk and more leaflets.
I remember how poor it was while my Mum was in hospital for 9 weeks following a fall. No broken bones but lots of bruising and pain. She was so pleased when they said a physio was coming to see her and thought they would get her moving again. They never did a thing in 3 weeks at the first hospital and in the second she spent 6 weeks and she never saw a physio once.

If you disagree with the NHS physio I suppose you could ask a private one to look at him, but you might pay out a substantial amount only to be told exactly the same thing.
Maybe asking for a meeting and discussing things would be better.

Thanks for your support everyone
I do understand and accept the safety aspect of all this but what I don’t get is that they won’t even TRY

I’m a bit confused by your post title Notjustaprettyface, because it sounds from what you said as though the care staff are in fact cooperating with the physiotherapists and not putting your husband in a standard chair yet because he isn’t yet able to manage to bend his legs? Presumably he is being supported to do exercises to improve his knees, but if that isn’t happening I’d suggest you focus on that, and discuss the plan for his rehabilitation directly with the physiotherapists.

I think they have health and safety rules to follow for themselves as well as the residents.
Things that we might do at home often cannot be replicated under the rules they have to follow.
I found that when my OH was in a nursing home it was best to go with the flow and recognise that things might have to be done according to different rules. I hope your OH will be comfortable soon.