On 21 April, a dear friend of mine in his mid 70s had a what the hospital describe as a small bleed on the right side of the brain. He’s now able to swallow puréed food and drink some water but can’t move the left side of his body. His wife has asked my advice as the hospital keep talking about him being ‘medically fit’ and getting ready for discharge.
He and his wife live in Cambridgeshire 200m from the border with Lincolnshire and his GP is located in Lincolnshire. He was taken to Peterborough hospital (Cambridgeshire) as it was closest, but they are saying his further care has to be undertaken by Lincolnshire, however there are no places available in brain injury rehabilitation centres. So two simple questions:
Firstly, can the hospital discharge him to his home even though his wife is unable to look after him and the standard of any physio and other care will be low?
Secondly, can one NHS region refused to provide services to someone who lives in their region, but has a doctor in another region?
Thanks in advance for anyone who can offer advice.
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Many thanks for the helpful answers. It appears to me that the standards of care vary according to area. Another friend had a stroke of what seemed to be of equal severity, yet when I visited him in Leicester Hospital’s Specialist Neuro-Rehabilitation Unit, he had been there receiving physio and rehabilitation help for 22 weeks with no pressure on discharge.
The friend I’m currently writing about has been in Peterborough Hospital for just 4 weeks. In my opinion he needs rehabilitation and I don’t think the home is the place for him right now.
After my sister-in-law had a stroke we bought a copy of David Guthrie’s ‘Pushing the Boundaries’ which is about his struggle to get his wife adequate rehabilitation care in the UK and how he eventually took her to South Africa for this.
My mother back in the eighties suffered from multiple Tia’s one on the nurses told me to refuse to hand over her keys at which point sheltered housing meals included along with Incas intensive care at home scheme was arranged she loved her new house along with the company with other residents the hospital social worker was furious with the actions in the end my mother lived happily for another 18 months her mood was much higher and of course being Scotland there were no charges
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@iLondoner, I really don’t know. It’s a bit of a post-code lottery at the end of the day, and medical staff are running about doing their thing without a thought for the bigger picture. I thought NHS was national, but Wales and Scotland aside, you are only dealing with England. @Mahoney and @Loshy have provided better advice than what I can offer. My only thing is get on the ringer and call, call, call. Only by speaking to people will things happen, and don’t let them leave you on the hook.
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I am okay @Loshy, I generally don’t get to sleep until about 2 or 3 am most nights due to insomnia.