Advice regarding dementia, theft and POA

Penry

Hi - just to caution against taking your Nan out of hospital if it is clear that what she requires is 24 hour care in a care home. While I understand your frustration, in my area those in hospital get priority for any vacancies in Care Homes (to avoid so called "bed blocking" penalties), and vacancies are few and far between (may be different for you obviously). If your Nan is at home she may wait longer for a place/funding to be offered to her. If her behaviour is getting difficult to manage, for whatever reason, it may be very hard on any family members who take on the care required.

I hope you get to speak to someone today.

Torry_Quine

Penry wrote: »

Hi - just to caution against taking your Nan out of hospital if it is clear that what she requires is 24 hour care in a care home. While I understand your frustration, in my area those in hospital get priority for any vacancies in Care Homes (to avoid so called "bed blocking" penalties), and vacancies are few and far between (may be different for you obviously). If your Nan is at home she may wait longer for a place/funding to be offered to her. If her behaviour is getting difficult to manage, for whatever reason, it may be very hard on any family members who take on the care required.

I hope you get to speak to someone today.

Yes it's common for those in hospital to be seen as priority cases, I prefer the term delayed discharge myself. Even then it can be many months especially if local authority funding is needed.

carolan78

I visited this afternoon and two of the bays had been closed due to DV, when I returned this evening the whole ward had been closed, I could visit but my Nan could not leave the ward despite not having DV. She got distressed by this because she looks forward to nipping outside for a ciggy and cup of tea.

I know if she comes out of hospital sooner then it may take longer to get her a bed in a nursing home but unless they can say tomorrow she will be in that ward for x amount of days that is what'll happen. It's doing her far more harm mental health wise than it is doing good. Especially if they decide tomorrow visitors can not enter the ward due to the infection.

If they had the patientline at the side of the bed so she could at least listen to her tv programmes it wouldn't be half as bad.

margaretclare

My DH has been Type II diabetic for 30 years and as for 'stabilising' diabetes, he'll be the first to tell you that anyone who says their diabetes is 'stable' is a liar. It needs to be kept as controlled as possible, but as he says, perfect control doesn't exist. It's something to be aimed at as closely as possible but you'll never get 100%.

Having said all that, I can't believe that someone who's been a diabetic for all those years is still a smoker i.e. likes to 'nip outside for a ciggy'. Smoking, for a diabetic, is an absolute no-no. The effects of diabetes on the blood-vessels and circulatory system are well-known, and to compound those effects by adding the effects of cigarette smoke - well, I can't write what I would really like to write.

carolan78

margaretclare wrote: »

My DH has been Type II diabetic for 30 years and as for 'stabilising' diabetes, he'll be the first to tell you that anyone who says their diabetes is 'stable' is a liar. It needs to be kept as controlled as possible, but as he says, perfect control doesn't exist. It's something to be aimed at as closely as possible but you'll never get 100%.

Having said all that, I can't believe that someone who's been a diabetic for all those years is still a smoker i.e. likes to 'nip outside for a ciggy'. Smoking, for a diabetic, is an absolute no-no. The effects of diabetes on the blood-vessels and circulatory system are well-known, and to compound those effects by adding the effects of cigarette smoke - well, I can't write what I would really like to write.

I hope I was reading a tone in the smoking comment that was not really intended! She did stop smoking if you really must know, in her confused state she has forgotten she stopped smoking and who are we to tell her she can not have a cig at this stage in her life especially when she is begging for them!

NAR

Quite right Carolan78, anybody aged 87 should just do whatever they like and to heck with the consequences! :beer:

margaretclare

There was no 'tone that was really intended'.

carolan78

Promised callbacks from Dr's and SS did not appear today We are once again not allowed to visit due to infection control even though my Nan nor anyone in her bay has the DV.

RuthnJasper

carolan78 wrote: »

Promised callbacks from Dr's and SS did not appear today We are once again not allowed to visit due to infection control even though my Nan nor anyone in her bay has the DV.

Hi carolan78 - just wanted to express my sympathy for the situation you're in. My dad had to go through this sort of thing with a former colleague of his (she didn't get on with her family and he had LPA).

Was just wondering - could you get your Nan a cheap personal stereo (or borrow one)? Then, at least she could listen to music or the radio. And most libraries have novels on cassette and/or CD to borrow as well.

One other thing about the potential thief (and I totally understand why you don't want your Nan troubled by this) - you mention that it is her benefits money that has been pilfered and spent, as opposed to her private savings. If this might be the case then, at some point, the DWP would probably want to know about it. I don't know how this might look to the DWP if it continues, for whatever reason, and they decide that you knew about it and didn't act on it - I'm not sure if they would count basic human compassion towards your Nan as a reason for not reporting it. I'm sorry, I don't mean to worry or annoy you, and I'm sure you have considered this - but it would be awful if your love and decency for your Nan and her feelings were to cause you some trouble further down the line.

Anyway, I REALLY hope all turns out for the best - for you AND your Nan. x

carolan78

The thefts were from benefits legitimately received. They were just took out of her bank once paid to her so in effect it was her money.

She wouldn't be able to get used to a personal stereo, she is blind and in her confused state she would think it was something daft. Yesterday lunchtime while we were there a relative that can not visit phoned my mobile. Trying to give it to my nan to talk to her was a nightmare lol

With a TV/patientline unit it would be easy enough for us to set it to whichever channel looks like it will appeal the most that night and leave it for her. At home she is used to her own TV remote so it isn't an issue.