"The care of my sister who has a dementia"

It is now two years since I first raised the issue of care for my sister. The outcome of that first piece on Careopinion was that a social worker was assigned. My sister’s condition has deteriorated and we currently have input from the local Alzheimers UK dementia resource worker, the Post Diagnosis Service support worker, a nurse from the Old Age Psychiatry team and a social worker. However, we still don’t have a care package in place. I’m told by the social worker that there are no available care workers.

At present my sister lives in Dundee and I live 12 miles away in Angus, I travel very regularly to Dundee to see to her needs which are increasing as her condition continues to deteriorate. I have tried to pursue a move for her into sheltered/supported housing near me, so that I can continue to offer her support as a carer in a way that is more sustainable for me and would reduce the need for professional intensive support. Unfortunately this has not been successful to date, and this appears to largely be due to a lack of teamwork and coordination within the professional support and no system in place to allow such a move between local authorities which would help meet the care needs of individuals and their families.