"Care at home"

My 92 year old mum just passed away. She had home care at home after it became too much for me to take care of her on my own.

The first care company that came in did not wash my mum for 40 days. I was going in after them and having to wash her, even after meetings things were not good. There was very little communication and any notes I left were more or less ignored. My mother had dementia and I asked if they could try to keep the same staff which did not happen very often.

My mother then fell and broke her ankle and a different company came in. Things got slightly better but I think that all the carers that have come in have a hard job but I think that there is not enough training for dementia patients. I would ask for them to help feed her but their idea of help was leaving a soup bowl on the bed, which nine times out of ten was spilled down the bed covers and soaked through to the quilt - not acceptable. Also cups of tea and juice left lying on the bed again leaving an old person lying in a wet bed.

It’s not the first time I have gone in and had to change my mum as she was left wet, she was not incontinent but would sometimes forget or not made it to the bathroom on time. My mum would say no don’t change me, because of her dementia, but if people are taught how to deal with dementia patients this would not result in them constantly writing my mothers name and saying no I don’t want washed and for them to walk away and leave her in soiled pyjamas. This to me seems like staff not doing their jobs, but if writing notes like these leads to not changing a person for 40 days then that is exactly what they were doing.

On other occasions when my mother was on antibiotics they were coming in at erratic times, sometimes only a couple of hours between visits which doesn’t work when someone is on antibiotics. On many occasions they were in and out in 10/15 minutes when they should have been there for 30 minutes to help feed her.

On one occasion my mother had a chest infection and was on antibiotics, by this point my mother was more incontinent, we had just arrived and carers were there we waited for them to leave before going into see my mother but they were only there for 3 minutes in and out she had not been given any lunch her pad had not been checked and no antibiotics were administered. I challenged them when they came back out there response was she was sleeping which meant my mum was fed at breakfast and would not have anything else to eat till tea time that evening around 7 or more hours. I don’t think this is acceptable.

My mum passed away shortly after this.

I think for these companies to call themselves care companies is wrong as I have just not seen the care. I thank god that my mother had myself  going most days and my husband kids and my brother on occasions when I could not be there, because if there are elderly people getting help at home from these companies I fear for them and exactly what kind of help they will actually receive. I could go on a lot longer but my heart is broken at losing my mum and that for the last few years of her life were not as they should have been.