A Gateshead pensioner with dementia is "confused and distressed" after being told she would be discharged from hospital to a home she and her daughter consider a danger to her.
Ivy Evelyn Wilkinson, 90, has been a patient at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead since August 15. Her daughter Cheryl had been looking after her, despite her own osteoarthritis since the start of the year, but by August her mother's dementia had left her unable to cope.
Since then she has been in hospital, but she was left "distressed", Cheryl said, after being given a discharge letter saying she would be returned to her home - which has two storeys and issues with the plumbing and wiring. Cheryl - who has legal power of attorney for her mum - argues that they both think the only safe option is for her to move into a specialist residential home for those with dementia.
Cheryl said the discharge liaison team at the hospital - which includes representatives from social services - had not taken into account Ivy Evelyn's dementia in deciding to send her home. She also claimed the care package proposed would not be appropriate - as there would only be four visits from carers a day, rather than round-the-clock care.
She said that her mum - whose dementia diagnosis was confirmed in September - would not be safe at home alone. She said that with doctors also fearing she may have Lewy Body Dementia her falls risk would only increase. Cheryl said that Ivy Evelyn had also been upset to be handed a letter saying that locksmiths could be called to break into her home in order to facilitate her return there.
Daughter Cheryl has formally complained to the hospital trust about how the discharge process has been handled and said the care package had not been agreed - because her mum's dementia meant she did not understand what she was told. She added: "For the last seven months I have had to live with her at her property and she's had a lot of problems coping. She has mobility issues but lives in a two-storey house.
"She became very unwell, she was not remembering to eat. She falls all the time. She was very confused - she didn't know who I was or who she was. When she was admitted they said she had delirium relating to dementia."
Cheryl said that despite this, and despite a falls risk assessment previously carried about by an NHS occupational therapist detailing the dangers she faces - and notes in her dementia diagnosis from a consultant saying that her mum "appears to be a vulnerable adult with a high risk of falling, self neglect and medicine non-concordance" - the discharge plan is for her to return home.
She added: "We've been told they're not able to provide full-time care for my mother or any respite for me. There's really not much support at all. I have osteoarthritis and will require a hip replacement. It's just not going to be possible for me to continue to provide that care to my mother."
Cheryl said that part of her complaint related to meetings being held with her mum without her present - even despite her having power of attorney and being authorised by her mum to discuss her medical situation. She said nurses had asked her "how she feels about going home". Cheryl is also angry at how Ivy Evelyn was given a letter detailing her discharge plan without her present.
She said: "The distress this letter has caused my mother is extreme and she is very upset by references made in the letter to “scoping” a locksmith to break the lock to her front door. I have to question whether it is appropriate to give such a letter to an elderly dementia patient without having a representative present."
In response, Gill Findley, chief nurse for the Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, said: “While we cannot discuss the circumstances of an individual’s care due to patient confidentiality, we would like to strongly reassure patients, as well as their families and carers, that we have robust processes in place to ensure that all of our patients are discharged to the place that can provide the best possible health outcomes, and they are secure and supported once they leave our care.
"Our staff work extremely hard to ensure patients are discharged with a detailed and highly-personalised package of care and assistance, working closely with our colleagues in the local authority, as well as involving any family members or carers with every decision."
A Gateshead Council spokesperson said: “We are committed to providing the best community care as possible for our service users following discharge from hospital. While concerns around care plans are taken into account, discharging a patient as safely and efficiently as possible is our top priority, in consideration of the best outcomes for the service user."
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