Does anyone know whether getting in a private physio to see a patient in hospital can negatively impact discharge pathway into respite and/ or a rehab unit?
Could it be seen that because we’re helping a patient pre-discharge they’re less likely to have a referral accepted at a respite facility?
My mum hasn’t had any rehab in hospital for weeks now (first because she was moved from pathway to rehab to home so the physios stopped working with her, and after a failed discharge and in another ward the hospital physios arent helping either). So we’re thinking of just getting a private physio in.
Are you trying to clarify something different from your post a couple of weeks ago?
How different health authorities, indeed different consultants and ward therapists will react will surely be very varied. They would be the ones to ask because our experiences will be with different authorities. The NHS has a responsibility to provide care but…
…The NHS is resource strapped!
So what is provides is rationed or just absent in some cases (I’d bet if they see two patients one with private provision and one without there will be an uneven decision - But I would not expect to be able to see anything in policy that would support that practise)
if they are providing nothing adequate at the moment not seeking it elsewhere because of concern that it will reduce the amount they provide would seem unlikely - or have I misunderstood?
I suggest if mum isn’t doing any physio from self- motivation, does not follow any of the YouTube channels or other sources and is getting nothing curated by the NHS then a provision from somewhere else is useful
The stroke association helpline may be able to refer you to a source of the official line (?)
My mum had a failed discharge and we believe we were badly misled by her stroke ward. So whilst she’s back in another ward, it’d be good to have her do some physio as the hospital physios aren’t able to be involved. But after our experiences with the stroke ward (lots of gas lighting, missing information, awful communication and I suspect even lies to get her out of the ward), we trust no one at the hospital.
There are some rogue situations either a combination of stressed services and or people with less competence and or timing issues for needs within a system with finite capacity and often no control on the demand.
Conscious and systematic malpractice I would think is unlikely, It requires complicity by many so it’s hard to keep hidden (But we know from several baby ward scandals It does happen). If you suspect it I suggest the medical ombudsman and the health authority CEO (and maybe the press)
A toxic attitude by one or two influential staff members is possible and more likely - it’s best addressed by talking to more people because it will become revealed in conversation. However most likely it is simply a stressed system with good people on the front line who cannot affect what is outside of their reach. In such cases they are often influencable simply by being nice to them - The NHS shouldn’t work like that but it’s a fact of human psychology
Pragmatism in cases where delivery does not match need would I suggest be do all the things in parallel which are best for yourself in your context. That I think would be served by gathering information on norms such as you are doing here and also from the Stroke Association/ DifferentStrokes/ StrokeInformation et al, talk to local support groups who will know the names of the good folk in the system that they have dealt with, and will have suggestions of which doors to open and how.
A major challenge in my humble opinion with the health service is that when you get connected to one consultant/ therapist / source That doesn’t work for you breaking that connection and re-establishing a new one seems to be a mechanism that is not in place and would be in any other avenue of service delivery.
Returning to the subject of “does buying the support you need reduce the likelihood of getting that support from the NHS” - which I previously said I think pragmatically yes but policy-wise no - I wonder whether it’s a moot point while the support needed is not being provided from the place it’s supposed to come from but is an option from elsewhere.
One further thought there is very high quality guidance from people like Elyse or Tara or orhers on YouTube (numerous posts on here give the links) - a little guidance from somebody knowledgeable to bring you up to speed then allow you to tap into these free resources
Thanks Simon. Based on an account of a good friend about the same ward, your suggestion about toxic influence seems to be spot on. And it’s very worrying.
