Anyone dealing with Adult Social Care?

Living with Parkinson's Carers, friends and family
1

Hello,
Im posting on behalf of a friend who is not on the forum but is driven to distraction in trying to deal with adult social care and Im wondering if anyone else is the same?

Back story is her mum has PD for about 12 years. Originally the symptoms were managed well with meds but trouble started when online shopping became a problem. Meds were adjusted again but mobility suffered and in the last couple of years, dementia started to kick in with a vengeance. Mum started to wander off and is lucky to have wonderful next door neighbours who look out for her as her family live far away. Falling has also started to become a problem and complications with other illnesses means she needs carers calling in, who unfortunately are hit and miss. Due to wandering and being picked up by good samaritans, police have been called a couple of times and referrals put into adult social care. Assessment of care is now happening, family feels Mum is gone beyond being cared for in the community but Mum herself is unsure, changes her mind a lot about it and maybe minimises how dangerous things are.

So the issues with social care seem to be:

Asking for medication to be reviewed by GP (my own experience is that Neurologist usually does this, most recent review of meds was recent enough, next appointment not until next year). Neurologist very difficult to contact and GP the same.

Asking care team for a report. Manager might not want to lose a client therefore will be reluctant to admit they cant manage?

Suggesting local services such as day care. Mum wont go or would never be ready on time, may even go out to avoid going. Its happened before that carers turn up, shes not there and they cant find her.

Suggesting community transport to get to appointments. Terms and conditions apply so theyll only bring her one way as they cant wait, a membership applies, appointments need to be booked 48 hours in advance but Mum wont remember the appointments to make any booking etc etc

I am leaving lots of details and incidents out but basically the frustration seems to be a lack of understanding about the disease, large amount of paperwork, box ticking and delay tactics. Neurologist has actually said on recent letter that Mum would be best looked after in a care home but that doesn’t seem to be enough?

Im just interested to see if anybody else’s interactions are any different or to learn more about what’s involved, both in terms of keeping my friend sane and my Dad may need social care at some point in the future.

2

Hello TheLippyOne … Having read your message above I am of the opinion that this person would be better off in a home. Clearly your expectation of what the NHS is able to deliver is unrealistic in this day & age.

The NHS is a mess, short of capable motivated staff & funds that make every thing work…

It appears that looking after your friend’s Mum is a 24 hour 7 days a week job.

Sorry to be blunt but that is as I see the situation you describe.

Best of luck in finding the answers.

Best wishes
Steve2

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Hi Steve,
Both my friend and I would agree with you. But unfortunately my friend’s mum is not in a position to pay privately for a home although the family do contribute to the cost of the carers. This is where adult social care are coming in, this situation has been going on for months and years to a lesser extent (getting carers in was a previous battle). I understand that the NHS is over burdened in every way.

I am just interested in the experience of others with social care who might be able to share how it went for them. She feels no nearer to a care home place for her mum than when she started.

4

Hi what a difficult time for the family, regarding care home placement we were told dad needed to be at risk of harm before he went in one. Not able to make the right decisions to keep himself safe. He ended up going in permanently after having a bad fall in the street with bad head injuries. Good luck

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Primary care networks

Since the NHS was created in 1948, the population has grown and people are living longer. Many people are living with long term conditions such as diabetes and heart disease or suffer with mental health issues and may need to access their local health services more often.

To meet these needs, GP practices are working together with community, mental health, social care, pharmacy, hospital and voluntary services in their local areas in groups of practices known as primary care networks (PCNs).

PCNs build on existing primary care services and enable greater provision of proactive, personalised, coordinated and more integrated health and social care for people close to home. Clinicians describe this as a change from reactively providing appointments to proactively caring for the people and communities they serve.

Each of the 1,250 PCNs across England are based on GP registered patient lists, typically serving natural communities of between 30,000 to 50,000 people (with some flexibility). They are small enough to provide the personal care valued by both people and GPs, but large enough to have impact and economies of scale through better collaboration between GP practices and others in the local health and social care system.

PCNs are led by clinical directors who may be a GP, general practice nurse, clinical pharmacist or other clinical profession working in general practice.

Over 99% of general practices are part of a PCN, who sign up to the Network Contact DES which details their core requirements and entitlements.

Find out more through a collection of case studies from across the country where PCNs are working to make a difference to staff and patients.

Watch a short animation that explains the concept of PCNs and how this new way of working enables health and other services to work together to provide better access for patients.

Why not get your friend to contact their GP & get a referral to the PCN network. I had one & they heled a great deal.

Best wishes
Steve2

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