"Not welcome if you have Dementia"

I am still coming to terms with the fact that Highfield will not take dementia patients for any medical procedures.

This was compounded by the fact that I was told just one week before my mothers hip operation (as an NHS patient) that she could not have the operation at Highfield due to the fact that she has dementia. I was angry and confused as my mother had gone through all the required appointments prior to her procedure including her pre-opp which she passed, a letter was received following her pre-opp confirming her date of admission, 6th February 2016.

Then suddenly out of the blue I received a phone call telling me that my mothers operation was being cancelled and she would be referred to an NHS hospital, and the reason for this was simply that she has got dementia.

This makes me concerned for all those people with private medical cover who could develop dementia (as we know it is on the increase) and find that they will not be able to use the services of hospitals like Highfield after paying years of policy premiums, finding themselves being referred to an NHS hospital (not that the treatment is any less, as you quite often see the same consultants at an NHS hospital as you do at the private hospitals) and not a hospital of their choice, as is stated in their private health care policies.

I think this needs to added clearly to any paperwork about BMI hospitals, to give people a clear and informed choice about the effects of dementia on there choice of hospitals as the BMI told me that none of their hospital will take dementia patients.

Living with dementia is hard enough for the person with dementia and their families, and this is just one more thing that adds to the isolation we feel.

My mother by the way who is 86 is still waiting for her hip operation!!