My dad has been in hospital for a month with respiratory problems he is 83 have been asking for a lung function test to see if he had COPD and was assured he would have it.
He was discharged from the General Hospital to a rehabilitation centre on the same site and they want to discharge him him again I asked if he had him lung function test and now they are saying that it will be up to the GP to ask for one but assured me he had COPD I want to claim for attendance allowance for him and carers for my mum but without the relevant test results I can't go ahead. My dad today informs me when I told him want I wanted to claim and what I needed that he had already had a lung function test back in March at a chest clinic how do I go about getting the relevant paperwork.
They say they are going to release him home without a care package in place he has no means of a paying for carers as he has no savings and is a council tenant any help advise or tips as I'm totally clueless to what to do being as he will be released very quickly (poss Tuesday or Wednesday) without the proper measures in place.
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Cox3513
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Hi cox I am sorry to hear what your poor dad is going through. I have been through this with my mum who although she didn't have lung problems was poorly. The hospital want the beds! They thought she was a independent lady who had just had a fall when it was a lot more than that so they were going to release her with no safeguards in place. We got social services involved who decided she wasn't safe to go back home on her own and did the tests which allowed us to get funding for a place in a care home.
In your place I would refuse to allow it and insist that he has the lung tests in the hospital and depending on the result a care package would need to be put in place. See his doctor and insist on the tests.
Does he live on his own? Can you or anyone move in with him? Do you think his situation warrents being in a care home or to go home with support? Contact social services and explain the problems.
One other thing hospitals can be sneaky so might try to move him to a cottage hospital to free up beds, sometimes without telling you, so make it clear he is going nowhere at least without telling you first.
Your father can apply for Attendance Allowance (social services can arrange for someone to visit him at home to help him fill the forms in). As far as I am aware he must have been diagnosed with an illness for at least 6 months before he could get AA (but check this out). If and when he does get AA you can then put in a claim for carers allowance for yourself. Good luck. x
What a dreadful predicament - please try the helpline on Monday I am sure they will be able to help you. Good luck TAD xxx
Hi cox. What a horrid time your having. Sounds good to contact SS and the help line. Hope you get some too advise and support. Meantime stick to your guns no discharge till its sorted
yes a terrible predicament,, i was helped greatly by the red cross, the kind red cross lady visited me and cleared most of the things you have mentioned, in conjunction with the hospital and the social services, they got me a care package, many many other things,, including a benefit check ,, i hope this helps cox, along with the other informative posts,
,i do hope things get sorted out quick,, kind thoughts jimmy
I agree with coughalot, SS is the answer. When my Dad was in, they shipped him out but, they did get SS in the hospital who sorted him out a care package.
He had no money either so he had only a small amount to pay for carers 3 times a day. although that was 10 years ago.
Hello Cox3513, Challenge your fathers release from hospital as they are responsible for a care package on release of an elderly patient. However if this fails contact social services and demand an assessment of needs as a carer of your parent. With respect an old breathing test try Pals they can help you but speaking from experience electronic tests do sometimes go astray in the computer. Elderly people do sometimes get fobbed off with excuses, social services can also help you with assessment of care needs, a claim for attendance allowance and do a financial assessment on your fathers needs. Put a claim in before you have the paperwork it's not about medical need it is about how your fathers health effects his daily living and whether he needs help with personal things, like bathing, dressing communicating, seeing, reading, walking, sitting ,standing, cooking I will stop there as the list is long main thing is get a form in you do not need a definite medical diagnosis but it does help. Sorry to hear you are having these problems but sadly some of it is due to cut backs and the inevitable changes this brings. That is no help to you when you need help is it though?? Come back to me if you need more questions answered, you need all the help you can get right now, good luck and best wishes.
From what I understand. There should be a visit from the OT to assess how he will manage out of hospital? When my mother was in hospital the OT came around and asked questions but they took what she told them as the whole truth and sent her home even though we pleaded with them not to as it is not safe for her. What they did do because of our concerns and persistence was send another team to look at the home on the day she went there. They got her to do what she claimed she could and surveyed the house. She then was told that they will get support in to do the cooking etc. and organised loads of aids to help her around the house. The OT told me off the record that the hospital is under pressure to get beds emptied by a certain time and this can override logic.
You need to have a word with PALS for getting any results that they have on record. They will charge for the service but not as much as GP's do. When your father has any tests in the future ask to be cc'd in on letters to the GP they are obliged to do this and there is no charge.
The lung function test shouldn't be carried out with 6/8 weeks of an infection or flare up. It is not the sort of thing I or many others look forward to as it is very demanding and I always end up laid up for a few days afterwards. You are asked to give everything you have got at least three times, maybe more if they don't get consistent results. COPD can be diagnosed without this . this is just a means of monitoring you through the years. As far as attendance allowance is concerned, your dad has breathing difficulties, been laid up in hospital through it, getting worse with no chance of improvement....you are there . Home and dry. They will awart you part to start with, you then appeal and they will then backdate your claim and give you full attendance allowance. It's like a ritual with them. However, get your claim in now. You can always add to it as it is being progressed but the date you put it in, is the date from which he will be awarded it.
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