General Chat

Anybody watching the news about dementia patients getting wrong treatment and NO understanding in hospital?
We are experiencing this right now with my Mum.
IT IS APPALLING!!

It was even worse 20 years ago,My Grandmother had Alzheimer'sand there was no help what so ever my mother looked after her for 12 years and for 5 of those years she couldnt do the simplest of things like go to the toilet,its a wonder my mother got through it,Im convinced its that that has made her so frail now.

Hello Rox,
Sorry you experienced it too
We had the same problem in the 70's when my Grandad had it(Dads dad). NO help whatsoever..

Mum fell three weeks ago and put her knee out so ended up in hospital.. Mum "looks" pretty good at the moment and has improved BUT She can't do anything properly nor eat properly as she forgets how to do it. So she has eaten only a couple of mouthfuls of food each day and has lost weight. Mind that won't matter as she was forgetting to stop eating when she was full..She forgets to drink and they don't pour her water out for her..!
She hasn't had a bath or a shower in the 3 weeks she's been there. They give her a bowl to wash with, Waste of time she won't remember what to do with it!! So now she smells worse than ever,, She has been totally incontinent for months and months now so desperatley needs a shower.. Now she has a water infection.. It just goes on and on..
We have a meeting with Doctors and social workers tomorrow.. I have a long list of things to say I can tell you!!!

What I don't understand is why it has takenTHIS LONG for it to even be discussed.It makes me so mad.
Angela Rippon spoke brilliantly about it this morning.I found myself nodding in agreement with what she was saying.My mum had dementia and passed away in hospital,where the staff were so run off there feet dealing with all sorts.No-one was free to feed Mum or 2 other Ladies,so when I was there I did the 3 of them.Unfortunately I lived 300 miles away,so could only be at the hospital at the weekends.
Sounds like you need to read the riot act LWD.
Good Luck!

I can't bear to watch it to be honest.

Mum has been in and out of hospital for a couple of weeks with severe dehydration and dangerously low blood pressure and heart rate.

Each time one of us has insisted on staying with her so she has a family member beside her 24/7...........they don't like it, but when we explain that she is more than capable of walking off the ward or harming herself or others, they change their minds and let us stay.

Lack of communication seems to be the problem in Mum's case.

The Home sends her in with a carer and her notes, yet one after another, the nurses and doctors are surprised when we tell them she has final stage Alzheimers and is incapable of either understanding anything that is said or done to her or letting them know what her needs are!

L.W.D,I hope you get the care your Mum deserves,I find it so upsetting to see how badly dementia patients are treated. they just seem to forget that they cant tell them what they need,its about time some serious action was taken and it wont be before time.
I dread to think what would have happened to my grandmother if my mother hadnt taken care of her,luckily her last days were one of constant care and attention but my mothers health suffered,that should not have to happen.

Same as you Kitty The carers and the warden where mum lives gave all the information to the ambulance men. The ambulance man even phoned me. He was fantastic..
As time goes on with each different mamber of staff the information gets 'diluted' so even though I phone and remind them what to be aware of it gets forgotten.
I Know why now!
At 6.45 On 6th November, Mums 80th so shan't forget it, Turns out Lincoln County Hospital under the guise of 'needing the beds' Shipped out 20 patients to Louth County Hospital. EVERY ONE OF THOSE PATIENTS HAD DEMENTIA OR LIKE MUM EARLY ONSET ALZHEIMERS!!!!!
Louth Hospital is as angry as we are!!
When are they going to move these patients Back to Lincoln???

My aunt is 59yrs old and had Alzheimers, hers is a type called Lewis Body Disease and she is still aware of things so this must worry her incase she goes into hospital.

The mind boggles. When there is a change of shift e.g. mornins early afternoon and evening. The staff leaving the shift are supposed to go over every patients notes with the oncoming staff. It seems to me that some serious training needs to go on in the wards, Trouble is nowadays nurses traing do a universrity course and then become "ward managers" don't seem to think they should do hands on nursing. So much now is left to care assistants.
It's frightening to think how the old folk are treated.
Hope you get it sorted.

Hiya Agatha,
Your Aunt must get very worried. My Mum a few years ago would walk round here and burst into tears because she couldn't remember why she came or worse how she got here... She would cry a lot beause she knew she was starting with alzheimers and one of her sisters was already in a nursing home because of it.

Pat K,
It is so worrying because WE are the old folk of the not to distant future!!!

Well I've made list after list of questions and statements of fact---- then screwed them up... LOL
Bet I'll be laid in bed at midnight and still be doing it.. compiling my list!

Just looking back at your earlier post LWD Your Mum should not smell unless she has just been incontinent.Even if it is difficult for them to get her in the shower or bath,she should be given a really good bed bath.There is NO excuse for her to be smelling bad.

Jane thankyou, you are so right. They have now put her in a catheter and we noticed there is blood in the urine.. She has no or not much control over her bowels either so what next a colostomy so they don't have to keep changing her.. and other patients like her..
While in Lincoln she was always in a hospital gown so we obviously thought it was the easiest way for them to change her clothing, because of the regular soiling.
We noticed that 7 of the 8 patients in her bay were all were wearing gowns NOT their own nighties.So the staff really were up against it each day..
As Mum had pain from her knee injury they gave her dihydrocodeine. Of course this binds ones bowels, as I know every day!
So for a few days while at Louth Hospital she couldn't go and then her bladder stopped working. They have stopped the pills and hey presto the soling has started again!!!
Guess who picked up 5 bags of washing!! How can they justify sticking it into a plastic bag and leaving it festering on the floor near the beds?
So no doubt noweven though I have taken clean clothing back she will be back in the good old hospital gown!

They would not do a colostomy on your Mum.I have to say the gown with the open back is probably the easiest for the staff.
Can I suggest one thing I did for my Mum.I bought a load of cheap but pretty nighties and cut them up the back to make it easier for the nurses,but they didn't look like hospital gowns.

Sorry Jane the colostomy bit was meant to be a bit of a jokey comment.. My Dad had one so maybe I shouldn't have joked about it really..

I like the nightie idea,I have bought her loads and they soon get ruined as do all her clothes.. She is adamant she isn't incontinent and wouldn't let the nurse at our doctors in the house!!

As a carer in a home ,all I can say is our residents always come out of hospital far worse than when they went in
Hospitals usually put dementia patients on a medical ward for their complaints.The staff are not trained to look after dementia patients.
they *assume * they can feed themselves,so as you say Tricia,they loose weight. ,
Are left wetand then have UTI infections,rashes and bed sores
Some we have sent in come back with broken bones,due to falling out of bed
We all dread it when one has to be addmitted to hospital,and the familes all complain about their treatment
Nurses trained in Dementia should be on ALL wards
But this is not the case