"My mum with early onset Alzheimer’s"

My mum was admitted to Antrim Area hospital to ward B1 (AMU1) in July and stayed there for nearly 4 months, this was following a few days in A&E.  The reason she was admitted was because of her Alzheimer’s, she wasn’t eating or drinking and there were various other symptoms. She’s in her early 60s and I can say we never thought we would be in this situation. 

Quite soon after admission my mum was thankfully medically fit but there were safety concerns and she could no longer go back to her wee home.  We started looking for somewhere for her to go and was supported by the incredible social worker Seanaoin, the difficulty was the lack of EMI nursing beds for someone under the age of 65 so my mum took up temporary residence in AMU1.  

During this time the level of care and compassion received was incredible.  Denise runs a very tight and compassionate ship, supported by others (if you are reading this you know who you are).  I’ve heard Denise’s direct reports talk about what a great manager she is. What amazed me was how everyone took the time to get to know my mum, they knew what she liked and what she didn’t (she was quick to tell or show them 😉).  It was very difficult for us watching her decline and the staff made it much easier for us, for example ensuring we understood any changes in medication, facilitating meetings to review this, listening to our concerns attentively and other things such as distracting her when we were leaving, going for walks with her (when she allowed it) trying to encourage her to eat and drink, getting to know the Bay City Rollers 😂  playing music with her and providing us with updates or phoning us if there was any concerns.  We all appreciated the flexibility and care shown, especially to my dad who also fell ill when he was there.  

The healthcare staff were faced with significant challenges that I observed during my visits - resourcing pressures, verbal and physical abuse to the staff and they were amazing and responded to this in the most professional and courteous manner.  Not many people could do this job, it’s absolutely a calling and thank goodness for all of them.

My mum was declining quickly because of the hospital environment and Seanaoin and I worked really hard together to find her somewhere, she finally got a place in a nursing home and the team organised so I could go in the ambulance with her, I was worried she would be scared on her own  and it all happened very swiftly, this definitely contributed to helping her settle in her new environment.  

Mummy arrived at the home and had settled well, a highlight for us as a family is she was reunited with her grandchildren who are age 4 & 3! They absolutely love her and I didn’t know how that was going to go but she recognised them, was smiling and laughing and sat down in one spot for an hour listening to their stories about starting school.  She even asked them questions which amazed me.

The healthcare workers I’ve witnessed are truly the backbone of our society who do their best to deliver patient care despite the systemic issues they are faced with on a daily basis and believe me there are a lot! They are very much out of their control and they get on with a very difficult job.  I’m happy to be contacted to provide feedback at an organisational or governmental level about this, as I feel that urgent changes need to be made.

If my mummy could she would thank you.  I will never be able to thank the team in AMU1 enough, you treated my mum how you would want your own to be treated with respect and dignity.  I hope you get to read this and know what you all do makes a massive difference in people’s lives, we will never forget you.  ❤️