"Residential home hardly help me"

I have been looking after my wife for two and a half years. I am 85 years old and have been looking after her night and day. It was all getting too much for me and one day I collapsed. No one knew my wife and I needed help and it was several days before we were found and managed to get some food and drink. I had no choice when we were then both put into a residential care home, my wife is not able to walk and cannot do anything for herself. I found that they were very unhelpful in the home, as they made promises and failed to keep them. I was uncomfortable with the manner in which they treated me and my wife. At one time, I had my clothes taken to be cleaned and the contents of my pockets were not returned to me when the clothes came back. I decided to sneak out to make a phone call because when I asked to make a phone call they said it was not convenient. I needed to use the phone to make an appointment for the podiatry clinic. I also need to pay bills and to check the post at my home address. It is very difficult in this residential care home, when you are told that it is always not convenient to use the phone.

Over the last few weeks previous to this, I have been using the podiatry services on Alexander Road, in Shipley which are really hopeless. I was having trouble finding the clinic and they were very unhelpful with giving me some directions, they suggested that I just take a taxi and try and find it, I could not afford this. Eventually I found the clinic and I went there so that I could easily find it when I went for my appointment date. I was just trying to find the clinic to make it easier and when I walked in, they were very rude and said that I did not have an appointment. I explained that I was making sure that I knew where to come when I came for my appointment.

When I went to the podiatry clinic for my appointment, I needed to have my toe nails cut, my feet were dirty because I had not been able to clean them, and I had an infection in my feet and legs. I had fallen over twice and now I cannot walk very well. I find that I am not able to clean them properly, so I asked if they could wash my feet and they said "no"; they would not wash them for me. I even offered to go to ASDA to buy a bowl for them to wash my feet in, but, they refused. They gave me some medication for my feet.

I have been at the residential home for 29 days and they have only treated my feet 6 times, the instructions on the medication, say twice a day, so they must think that I am stupid and do not realise this. They are not caring for me properly. I need to make future appointments, but, I could not make an appointment yesterday because in the care home they would not let me use the telephone. I sneak out and go back home to check the post and try to make some phone calls and see if they are any bills to pay. I need to be assessed again, so I called the number that was on a letter that I had received and no one was available. How am I able to make an appointment? I have to go back to the care home and I cannot stay in the house making lots of calls. It is difficult to keep appointments when I am given them, because I am in the home and the letters go to my house and I do not know the dates and times. So many problems trying to get the medical care that I need, all I can see for my wife and I are problems, it is very stressful and I would rather commit suicide than face the future. I do not want to give the name of the residential care home, but, it is not a very nice place and I do not know what to do to improve things.