Government plans to merge health and social care

[bowlingbun]

This is going to be a HUGE project!

I used to visit lots of care homes etc. as part of a job, years ago.
So many council homes and cottage hospitals in my area have closed since then.
I've said many times that this was a bad move.
Centralising care to enormous hospitals miles away designed to make people "better" really isn't in the interests of elderly and disabled people who need good nursing, good food, and time to recover from illness.
Hopefully CUK will be involved in discussions?

[Melly1]

I can see benefits of joined up care for those with health issues but I don’t agree with the medical model of care for those with autism and/ or learning disability.

Melly1

[bowlingbun]

I would like to see more staff properly qualified in LD. Some of M's staff really haven't had a clue. I'd like a stable system which was well planned so that we didn't lurch from crisis to crisis.

[Londonbound]

Who is going to be in control of peoples care, will the GP take control?

My GP doesn't have a clue, he thinks you contact social services and they do everything, they don't you get assessed and don't get the help you need, the help that's available which is often none.

There needs to be more qualified staff seeing carees who can identify when people are getting worse and initiate the right treatment help and support.

A 15 or 30 minute call just doesn't give enough time for anything like that and the elderly/disabled get worse and end up in hospital.

There is supposed to be team working in my area between the GP/Social Services, an integrated community team but it just doesn't work.
You would need a lot more qualified and trained staff which would cost a lot of money but there is a shortage of these people.

There would have to be a lot of thought and organisation to make this scheme work, but done properly would lead to a lot better care.

And it would have to be proper accessible available care and support, you need to have an issue 9-5 Mon to Friday in order to get the right help and support but even then its hit or miss , but evenings/weekends no chance.

So when is this going to happen, and who will be in control, we have social workers who do nothing basically, the GP is too busy to help advice, more social workers, more GP's?

[Susan_201012345678]

I would like to see more staff properly qualified in LD. Some of M's staff really haven't had a clue. I'd like a stable system which was well planned so that we didn't lurch from crisis to crisis.

I feel the same about social carers working with the elderly with multiple chronic conditions.
Considering the potential complications, I'm not sure how putting compression stockings on is classed as social care.
The social carers carry out the same tasks as healthcare assistants in the NHS, but with very little training, no supervision and very little accountability.
Grieves me that people are paying £15.60 an hour.

[bowlingbun]

I agree totally. I used LD as an example, as now I only care part time for my adult son with LD.
However, I supported all four parents in various ways before they died.
Mum had been housebound for about 30 years.

She had carers 3 times a day, they were supposed to do all mum's meals, but one foreigner didn't even understand what "gravy" meant!
Her cathether management was terrible, I would go to visit her and the whole house stank of stale urine at times. The "Continence Nurse" from the surgery left instructions for the carers, but never actually met them. Given the language barriers too, it was a nightmare.

[Susan_201012345678]

I can see benefits of joined up care for those with health issues but I don’t agree with the medical model of care for those with autism and/ or learning disability.

Melly1

but OT's and nurses who work in rehabilitation don't (or shouldn't ) focus on the Medical model. I'm not saying they don't as I saw it when my Dad was on a "rehab" ward after his hip fracture. Way, way too little OT input. No dressing or washing assessments/practice. The nurses didn't seem to be focused on anything in particular and physio focused very much on improving mobility. It was the same after my Mum had her hip replacement. As soon as she could walk up and down the stairs that was it. Home.

Maybe not too relevant for this thread, but the other complaint I had was that they did very little to assess if Mum was OK to be the primary carer for Dad after discharge. Nobody ever talked to her about how she would manage or her needs, or anything else for that matter. It was also expected that we would support both of them.

I was a student nurse back in the 80's and did a 6 week placement on a rehab' ward and loved it. Physio and OT in every morning first thing to help with bed transfers, washing and dressing practice etc and the ward had a day hospital attached to it that people might attend after discharge. The Day hospital had nurses and therapists and chiropody and a doctor were there once a week. Of course that was back when "rehabilitation" was a relatively new concept. Now we seem to have all the protocols and policies in place regarding Falls and Frailty, but they don't seem to translate into Clinical practice.

[bowlingbun]

Things used to be so much more "joined up". I had an experience of a day hospital in 1972 or thereabouts, on the edge of Bournemouth, high elderly population. Before inpatients were discharged, they were referred to the day hospital, and anyone with significant needs was discussed at a weekly case conference. Social Services, OT, Physio, lady in charge of meals on wheels, and home helps all given referrals. Patients went to the day hospital as frequently as required, collected by ambulance. If they couldn't bathe at home, they could use the specially adapted baths. Hot meals were provided. I had my Covid jab where this hospital used to be. It had all been bulldozed, and the wonderfully spacious grounds were full of terraced houses and flats! Such a shame.