"Good service and care of my mother throughout her time there and at End of Life"

This story is being posted by Healthwatch Oldham on behalf of someone who wishes to remain anonymous. Any response to this story will be communicated to the individual involved.

My mother was in Acorn Lodge for 8 years. She had a double spinal laminectomy in the 1970’s and had since had 2 strokes along with diabetes and couldn’t really communicate. However, she was a fiercely independent person.

In June /July 2015 she had several falls due to her refusal of using provided aids or calling for assistance when needed and this hugely affected her back and mobility and at this point I think she had made the decision that she wanted to die. She started to refuse medications, refused treatment and gave staff a really hard time; she was frequently pulling herself out of bed so she had to go to hospital and it frequently ended with myself or other family members having to go to hospital to help stabilise the situation, she was also hitting out at family members. Due to the level of care required for my mother the care home manager (Joanne) decided after consultation, that on the Monday following what proved to be her final week, they would move my mother to the terminal care part of the home.

My mother returned to the home that week following hospitalisation to sort out blood sugars and yet another fall. Sadly, on the Sunday morning my brother and I received a call from Acorn Lodge telling us that we needed to be there. Over the next 12 hours we had family members and friends coming to the home to say goodbye to my mother, the staff and manager where fantastic at no point did they give us any hassle about how many people we had there and they supplied us with refreshments. This continued through the night when just the 2 of us remained.

The manager was wonderful, she ensured that we had everything we needed and was very supportive to both her staff and ourselves. Early on Monday morning my mother passed away. Joanne the manager kept herself available on site during the whole time.

I feel that Joanne the manager and her staff went above and beyond the call of duty and I cannot commend them highly enough.

She and her staff treated my mother with respect, care and dignity and I feel genuine love. They were very accommodating to the whole family when it came to saying goodbye to my mother. Myself and my family appreciate the level of care that my mother received throughout her time at Acorn Lodge and after, as Joanne even attended the funeral service.