Please can you help? I normally support my Father with shopping, cleaning and house maintenance at the weekends. He is in hospital after having a fall and breaking his ankle. He lives at home on his own, without a toilet or bathroom downstairs. I can’t imagine how we’re going to cope, particularly as I work fulltime and live 30 mins away
Suffolk Family Carers is able to offer you support from an adviser based at the hospital. We can reassure you that there is a team of different professionals waiting to work with your father. Whilst the Dr and Nurses are regularly checking your father’s medical progress, a Therapy Team will be ready to engage as soon as possible. It is part of their role to:
- Provide physiotherapy whilst on the ward
- Assess your father’s ability to mobilise, transfer & cope with personal care ready for discharge.
- Gather information about his home environment.
- Work out a plan of support to include equipment such as a commode, grab rails or walking aids and a care package if needed.
It is vital that the Therapy Team and Discharge Hub are aware of the support available at home to enable them to understand any potential help needed. It is therefore very important that they include you in the discharge planning process. We can help link you with the team to ensure this happens.
Whilst your Father is in hospital, we can provide time for you to talk, and keep in touch regularly to see if we can help with any other concerns.
If you feel ready to, we can also tell you about the various ways we at Suffolk Family Carers can support our family carers, complete an Emergency Plan and refer you to other organisations if appropriate. If you just want to concentrate on your Father’s discharge, that’s fine too.
Please note that this information is correct at the time of publication
