Hi sorry for posting this on here, but I need some advice.
My father has been in a care home for 3 months as he is very vulnerable and cannot go out unsupervised and I am trying to get him moved nearer to me which everyone has agreed is in his best interest, I live 2.5 hours away.
A couple of weeks ago I contacted Dad’s social worker to say I was worried something bad would happen to him if we don’t get him moved soon. Don’t get me wrong they are very good to him at the care home.
Last week I had a call to tell me that he had been found by a member of the public laying by the road quite some distance from the care home. He had left the home walked quite some way and fallen over and cut his head.
Apparently when contacted by the kind person that found him the care home had not realised that he was missing. I have not yet spoken to the manager as I don’t know what to say to him.
Thankfully Dad is okay.
Any advice welcome
I am sorry you have this worry to deal with.
If someone is confused and known to wander, then standard residential care/nursing homes won’t usually take them because residents there are usually free to come and go as they please. In my experience, once an existing resident starts to wander, such a home will usually be quick to say that they can no longer meet that person’s needs and insist that he/she moves to somewhere more secure (like a specialist dementia unit that is designed to keep wandering residents safe at some cost to their personal freedom).
So it might be that the existing care home manager will want the same thing as you do - moving your father to a more secure setting. If, however, your father does have a history of wandering and is therefore in a supposedly secure unit already, you or whoever is top of their next-of-kin list should expect to hear about a thorough investigation of what went wrong with their security systems for keeping their residents safe.
Whichever sort of home your father is in, I am astonished that no one has been in touch with you already to (at the very least) explain what happened and discuss the implications. (I’m assuming here that you are the main next-of-kin contact on the care home’s file.)
Good luck.
Alison
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hi jaycie
you are well within your rights to ask for an explanation, say that you need to fully trust them with your dad’s care.
if you have found a care home closer to you, this maybe just the introduction to the topic.
best of luck to you and your dad.
carole x
Hi Jacie
I agree with what Alison and Carole have said, my mother in law is in a home and has dementia. Luckily we live fairly close by so when anything happens my husband is usually the first to know. He has an excellent relationship with the care home staff and management. This is of course partly because of our proximity.
Her care home has a policy that they are happy to house people with dementia, but if they wander or are violent, they have to be moved to a specialist home with more suitable facilities, ie locked doors.
If you are the next of kin, I’m surprised the care home haven’t already contacted you to suggest a more appropriate home for your father.
And of course, if he’s moving, and you’d like him to be closer to you then it’s a good opportunity for him to move closer. Unless of course there are other family members who perhaps live closer to his current home. In which case you’d have to make that decision collaboratively.
It may also make some difference if he is self funding or funded by the local authority, in which case you may need to be advised by the social worker as to how to move him into another authorities area.
I hope you get it sorted out soon, it must be a great worry to you
Sue
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hi, what a worrying story!
As the others have said, you should be told by the home if they feel unable to care safely for your dad…and this on Father`s day!
Youll have to check out the funding issues and then you are right to want your dad nearer to you. And as for the home not even aware of your fathers wander…well, that`s totally out of order!
pollx
They knew before they took Dad in that he could not leave the premises unsupervised. That is the reason he was put in the care home at the start.
Oops sorry meant to thank you for your replies.
Jaycie x
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I guess that you should simply tell the manager of your concern that your father had wandered from the home.
Not exactly reassuring but when something like this happens the person wandering off doesn’t seem to come to any harm - thankfully.
There will be an organisation which will oversee the Home and they will investigate any concerns you may have if you decide to take it further.
The manager had had to apply for a deprivation of liberty safeguard when dad first went there as he has no mental capacity.
Thank you krakowian for your reply, but unfortunatly in Dad’s case he was found laying by the road with a cut head.
Many care homes and indeed nursing homes could tell you a similar story.
If your father still has the mental capacity (doubtful, from the sound of it) you need him to take out a Lasting Power of Attorney (Welfare) giving you the power to decide where he goes. Will need a solicitor and will cost ££.
Otherwise, social services can place him wherever they decide, and you have no say at all.
It might be in your best interest to talk to a solicitor about both his and your best interests.
Geoff
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