PPT mouthpieces

My father is using a "befriending" service. Worried.

What next!!??

David, very sorry to read about your Dads fall and subsequent hospital stay.

On the plus side, this is now a perfect time to put changes in place that you will be happier with.

Get rid of these current volunteer people.

You have no confidence in them and are unlikely to see changes in their methods or conduct. You will never be quite sure about them.

In the talks that you are about to have with Social Services, about the care package that needs to be put in place, tell them that you want this particular volunteer crew out of your dads life.
Don't let them persuade you otherwise. (They may well try)
Dont be afraid to voice your concerns about dodgy goings on. They will have to listen to that, and they will.

This is the time and the opportunity to make the much needed changes.

This may well upset your Dad. Im afraid there is no way around this. but it doesnt mean that it isnt the correct action. It is.

He will get over it , hopefully soon.

Good luck over the next few weeks. It will be stressful.
 
What next? The next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing.

Sorry to hear of the falls. I hope your father is in good spirits despite everything.

He should have an OT (or similar) assessment to determine the type of care he will need after discharge from hospital, and the hospital should be able to help with regards to who you need to speak to about care, and you then - sorry to say it - chase and chase and chase until you are absolutely sure that everything is in place - morning, afternoon, and evening, and any therapy appointments he needs once he is home. Absolutely DO NOT permit the hospital to discharge without all this in place as it is much more difficult for carers to be added to the rota once he's home than it will be to reduce the number of appointments as he improves. You need confirmation that carers will be there from the time he is home until the time he is well enough not to need them. Say so to those organising the care, and to the hospital. Keep saying it to them until it happens, and explain to your dad that he might have to stay in hospital a little longer so that everything will be in place when he leaves. And do keep the hospital updated with regard to progress - they may not be able to help with organising it, but they will appreciate the information.

And I have to agree with @brianr that the volunteer centre is not to be allowed anywhere near your father and that your concerns about the driver in particular and the centre in general should be made clear to those organising care and the carers from the start. Similarly with concerns about carers - one who couldn't make an appointment with my grandmother sent her husband instead; although he was registered with the agency, the family had clearly stated 'female carers only' and that they should have called to say no-one was available so that family could make alternative arrangements. Don't hesitate to say so if you think there is an issue!

In the meantime, best wishes to you all. It's a hard time for everyone. Good luck.
 
Thanks all.

My wife is a retired staff nurse (SEN). She's worked mostly in theatre as a scrub nurse but also in geriatric care, A&E, psychiatric care, and on the wards. She can recall the ways of the NHS and social care. Once people know she's "one of them" they generally help even more. Or they know they'll be "sussed" and have to mostly concede. He's bearing up in hospital, so far.
 
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Sell all your Dad's stuff...there'd be nothing to feed the sharks
 
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He should have an OT (or similar) assessment to determine the type of care he will need after discharge from hospital, and the hospital should be able to help with regards to who you need to speak to about care, and you then - sorry to say it - chase and chase and chase until you are absolutely sure that everything is in place - morning, afternoon, and evening, and any therapy appointments he needs once he is home. Absolutely DO NOT permit the hospital to discharge without all this in place as it is much more difficult for carers to be added to the rota once he's home than it will be to reduce the number of appointments as he improves. You need confirmation that carers will be there from the time he is home until the time he is well enough not to need them. Say so to those organising the care, and to the hospital. Keep saying it to them until it happens, and explain to your dad that he might have to stay in hospital a little longer so that everything will be in place when he leaves. And do keep the hospital updated with regard to progress - they may not be able to help with organising it, but they will appreciate the information.

It all obviously depends on where patients are treated, but my experience was very positive. My elderly mother in law had a fall before Christmas. She broke her knee, hip and humerus, and was in hospital for emergency care for five weeks. She then spent another four at a rehabilitation hospital, Caterham Dene. The emergency care was excellent, the accident happened on a Friday afternoon, and on the Sunday a new hip joint was put in. At Caterham Dene the OT's were very clear that she would only be discharged when all the necessary facilities and arrangements for care were made. Her house had necessary modifications and physio services and social services support were all arranged. We didn't have to chase anything at all. By the time she was discharged from hospital we were happy that everything needed for her safety was in place.

We also got a Blue Badge for her, so when my wife drives her around she can park on yellow lines and in disabled spaces. The process itself, which is national, is clearly designed to deter applications. However, the granting of the badge, done locally, was incredibly quick. Surrey Council responded the day after submission to say it had been approved and the badge was received the following day.
 
My father has had a blue badge for many years.

The hospital nurse was saying yesterday he may have to be transferred to a hospital in our county as he was taken to the nearest A&E, not the one linked to our social services. This was a little "not our problem" especially when the same hospital had arranged home care for my wife's uncle with another county a few years ago.
However we have the head of county social services here this afternoon about the "other business" so we're hoping to update him on my father's situation and take advantage of this in terms of arranging suitable care.

My wife spoke to the hospital doctor this morning who was firm in saying they will not release him home until a full care package is in place. Because of his dementia and the broken neck (stable fracture) he will be in hospital for a fair while, and hopefully it will work out as per Jon's mother in law.
 
The process itself, which is national, is clearly designed to deter applications.
The process was tightened up to make sure they went to those who needed them, too many were being given out not only to fraudulent claimants but those whose disability was not serious to merit one.
Disabled drivers and families should remember it doesn't give them the right to park anywhere and the badge is only to be used when the disabled person is in the car, use by anyone in the family as free parking is a very common practice.
 
The process was tightened up to make sure they went to those who needed them, too many were being given out not only to fraudulent claimants but those whose disability was not serious to merit one.
Disabled drivers and families should remember it doesn't give them the right to park anywhere and the badge is only to be used when the disabled person is in the car, use by anyone in the family as free parking is a very common practice.
All very true. However, I am IT literate and have worked with complex work systems for years, and I still struggled to complete their form, complete with requirements for scanned documents reformatted to ludicrously small size, detailed information on the names and job roles of treating clinicians and so on. The important stuff about the nature of the disability was actually pretty straightforward. There is no way my elderly mother in law would have been able to do this herself.

You're right, the blue badge belongs to and confers rights on the holder, it's not for the car or occupants other than the holder. We would never, ever use it to gain the benefits without the MIL being present.
 
If you, or anyone else, needs help with that take everything that might be relevant to the council 'drop in' or whatever they call it, play daft and helpless and they'll do all the scanning and fill it in.
 
So if they leave the car to do the shopping, they have to move the car first?
Very clever ;-)
Actually, you are not allowed to use the blue badge to park the car and leave the disabled person in it while you nip into a shop... Parking tickets ahoy if you try!
 
On the car or the person in it?

Haha :) A traffic warden tried to serve a FPN on the car while the blue badge holder was in it because the driver had gone into a pharmacy and the vehicle had been on double yellows for more than ten minutes. Apparently this is not permitted because the driver wasn't present. If the vehicle had not been occupied at all, the blue badge would have permitted parking. Someone present in the car, badge holder or not, meant illegally waiting. Who knew? :confused2:
 
The blue badge is so that a person of limited mobility can leave their vehicle, or the vehicle they are being transported in, close to where they need to go, by foot, wheelchair or mobility scooter. If the badge holder is still in the vehicle then there's no need to use the badge. It's not rocket science.

Traffic Wardens work for the police and are involved with criminal offences. Civil Enforcement Officers or Council Wardens issue fixed penalty notices for civil offences.
 
Who knew? There is a very clear booklet sent out with the Blue badge. It sets out all the rules and loads of other useful information.
 
Watch out for kerb markings. Ain't not nobody allowed to stop there. No time limit. Instant ticket, in or out of the car. Loading bays too are a no no.
 
@Colin the Bear you did that job at one time Col, how come the 'loading' areas only apply to commercial
deliveries. No private car customers loading newly bought music gear:confused:

Chris..
 
If the badge holder is still in the vehicle then there's no need to use the badge.

The trouble was that the badge holder had intended to leave the vehicle and then wasn't up to it ... Car parking in York is so appalling that the driver decided just to display the badge and go into the pharmacy or optician (or wherever it was) rather than spend a good half hour finding a car park - and a space - and then walking back to the shop, and then got caught out by a queue in the shop, meaning that it took longer than the unofficial 8-10 minutes to get back again. The blue badge was a new thing for the persons concerned.

They didn't repeat the experiment, having been caught out once - although the FPN wasn't served in the end, it wasn't a great experience.
 
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