"My mother's care from the Perth and Kinross HART team."

My Mum, who was 94 at the time, had a fall in her kitchen in mid January and fractured her pelvis. She spent four weeks in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee and on her return home to Auchterarder she received care from the HART team.

From the outset, the team was very professional; understanding of my Mum and her needs and exceedingly patient. I was concerned that she would have difficulty accepting care from male staff but this was never the case. The aim of the carers was to always let her do as much as she could herself,  make her own decisions about how she would like to do things and to do those things at her own pace - nothing has ever been rushed.

Her short term memory was badly affected when she came out of hospital and this has led to a lot of confusion and lack of confidence for my Mum. This has remained a problem but with the ongoing patience and care from the team, her confidence has improved and she can now manage her medication, which is sent in a weekly tray from the pharmacy. She also manages to get most of her meals by herself although she likes to have reassurance from her carer that she is doing things correctly. 

The family was involved in her care plan and she was given a key worker who was extremely knowledgeable and informative about what the carers hoped to achieve. It was decided that one carer in the morning, tea time and night time would best serve her needs and this has worked very well. My Mum now tends to doze quite a lot during the day and the morning carer can assist with getting her lunch ready, if necessary. Help was also provide with bin collection. We were not aware that such a thing as "assisted bin lifts" existed and this has now been organised and makes everything much easier.

A carer is present when my Mum has a shower, although she likes to wash herself, and this gives both the family and Mum great peace of mind as she can be quite unsteady on her feet. My Mum's preferences are always asked for, and permission given, before anything is done - the very definition of Person Centred Care.

The carers are all very good at keeping in contact with myself and they are willing to have a chat and let me know how Mum is doing or if there is anything I need to know. I have had regular updates from her key worker, both by email and phone calls, and as I live in Devon this has been of great comfort, knowing that she is in very capable hands and her needs are being looked after.

I cannot say enough good things about the HART team. Their excellent training and abilities shine through. I used to get myself very concerned about Mum being alone at home after my Dad died in 2014. She values her independence greatly and wants nothing more than to remain in her own home. After meeting the HART team, seeing their commitment to my Mum and seeing the improvement in her confidence over the past weeks, we now  know that she can remain in her own home, with carers, at least for the foreseeable future. 

My brother, myself, my Mum and the entire family are eternally grateful to HART; many thanks to you all for your kindness, commitment  and care.