"Supporting me to support my mum"

I'd like to share feedback about the Home from Hospital Team. On their letter, the service name is Dundee Enhanced Community Support Acute team DECSA, but they were introduced to me as the Home from hospital team by the nurse practitioner who is supporting me to support my mum.

It all started last summer when my mum had a stroke, she was taken into Ninewells Hospital, into infectious diseases ward, so she was kept away from everybody else. I knew she had had a stroke right away but it was about 2 weeks before they confirmed it was a stroke. She was moved multiple times to different wards, across a six month period. She was in a Gynae ward at one point, it was horrendous. She was deemed ready to go home but there wasn’t a care package in place, so she was kept in hospital in numerous wards and areas of the hospital and mentally she just went downhill. Overall she was in from June to just before Christmas following her stroke.

She was eventually given a care package but it wasn’t as good as it could have been, it was 2 carers but they wanted her to have 4 carers. She ended up back in hospital again within a couple of weeks with something else wrong which turned out to be a gall stone. She was then let home, then back in again because she had a fall, so there was always this concern that she would lose the care package we had waited so long to be put in place, it was just last month that this Home from Hospital team came on board and got things going with what she needed.

Finally last month, this Home from Hospital team have taken charge of things and seem to have got things working and moving a bit more calmly. When I was trying to organise all the care and support my mum needed before it was a complete and utter minefield to me to try and navigate all the different services. But with this new service we have had this one nurse practitioner that I have been dealing with, they have dealt with all the agencies, OTs, care services, meals on wheels. I didn’t even know I could apply for attendance allowance and they have brought everything together into one place, and so having one person who knows the whole system, and who chats to me directly has been fantastic. 

At first I think I was quite defensive, but now I know that they are really trying to help. My mum was adamant that she wanted to stay at home, and the nurse practitioner has helped that happen. They seem to be able to look at my mum’s whole history. The red cross are dealing with a lot of it. It’s been a really difficult time. The community alarm service have been a fantastic service, and so have Meals on Wheels.

This whole process was really making me so worried about the NHS, but I feel better now the Home from Hospital team have come on board to help, they’ve restored my faith.

I also just want to add I was persuaded by the nurse practitioner to apply for Attendance Allowance, however having attempting it I would rather compile another novel about War and Peace than spend the numerous time needed to apply.