Friday 11 February 2011

Well, stone the (expletive deleted) crows!

Mum got a letter from the DWP today requesting her new address. I gave it to her to read.


Two fuels for the brain are definitely better than one. When I returned to the home after lunch, I found that an agency carer had given mum chocolate pudding for dessert, as she hadn't been informed about mum's low-carb diet. Mum was semi-conscious. It's now written in the book.

I found Brian/Brianna on my driveway this morning, so I moved him/her to a safer place.


The wet weather is bringing out the amphibians. I nearly trod on a frog during my walk last night. I ran home to get my camera (my phone doesn't have a flash) but when I returned, he/she had hopped it.

12 comments:

LeonRover said...

Flaming

Nigel Kinbrum said...

Thank you.

I was so surprised, I mixed my metaphor!

Galina L. said...

Is it possible to place some prominent sticker om your mother's chart, or elsewhere where it is easy to notice? They must have a place for allergies warning ? I see it as you are building a foundation for the situation when the next generation of people will not find themselves on a wrong diet while being helpless.

Nigel Kinbrum said...

Hi Galina,

We're not allowed to do that. There is a care plan for every resident and all care staff should be aware of what's in it. At the moment they're either not aware, or the care plan wasn't updated when mum's GP visited.

The same carer brought a wheelchair to take mum to the dining room for lunch. I was there at the time, so I informed her that mum was supposed to be offered the walker first. That went in the book. Mum walked to the dining room.

The walker that mum was using belonged to another lady and was damaged (the walker that I bought for mum was being used by someone else). That went in the book.

Galina L. said...

You are not on retirement, you are a staff trainer. Good for your mom and I believe potentially for other residents.

Nigel Kinbrum said...

The fees at mum's nursing home are going up on April 1st from £975 per week to £1024 per week. Multiply that by 1.6 to get $.

As mum's paying Hilton fees, I will not accept Travelodge service.

Galina L. said...

It is a very good point. Do they try to justify the price hike? Are they for profit?
My grandma is in a very good by Russian standards , but state-ran nursery house. By rules they just keep her pension. It is heavily subdivided by some freshly rich anonymous business people and we are lucky she got there. Not everything is satisfactory, for example, residents are not allowed to have personal items because if they do, they keep loosing it ,blame everybody ... Too much trouble for nurses. Food if good, not LC, of course. It is as good, as it gets.

Nigel Kinbrum said...

Price hikes are always justified by increases in running costs. It's a privately-run home so it has to run at a profit. There are few state-run homes.

Mum has her own room, so she can have personal items. The food quality is also very good. It's the procedures that need to be whipped into shape and I'm in the mood to do some whipping!

Galina L. said...

I mean subsidized, not subdivided, I don't know why that wrong word.

Nigel Kinbrum said...

I knew what you meant.

I have taken some photos of locally-growing fungi. I shall put the photos in a blog post.

Time for some fungus identification!

LeonRover said...

Jesus wept!

>£50,000 p.a. WOW

Nigel Kinbrum said...

Yes, he did!

It's just as well that mum's not fully compus mentis, otherwise she'd bust a blood-vessel knowing how much being "looked after" was costing her.

She gets ~£107pw Registered Nursing Care Contribution + ~£70pw Attendance Allowance from the DWP in addition to her pension. Every little helps.