Helping our client return home after a hospital stay
14 January 2022
Our wonderful client, Elizabeth, was reunited with her family thanks to the help of our West Sussex care team.
Her daughter, Ros, was kind enough to share their story…
Elizabeth, aged 93, from Worthing, was moved into a care home to receive full-time support after an emergency hospital visit in September last year. Despite calls from her daughter Ros to bring her home with the help of their live-in care worker, Elizabeth was transferred to a residential care home where she was unable to see her family. Due to coronavirus restrictions, Elizabeth had to self-isolate on her own before she could receive visits from her friends and family. Ros said it had been terrifying for her mum to go through post-hospital recovery alone, away from her home, support network, and familiar surroundings.
“We have had lovely care personnel from Promedica24 caring for Mum in her home for over a year before her hospital stay. However, the doctors and hospital officials took no notice of this and said the care home would be the best place for Mum to recover. This couldn’t have been further from the truth,” Ros said.
“Had we been able to take her home, she wouldn’t have had the trauma of going into a care home during the pandemic. She was frightened to be there.”
Knowing the difficult situation, Chris White-Smith, Promedica24’s West Sussex Regional Partner, stepped in and organised an additional live-in care worker to support Elizabeth in her own home. With two carers in place, Ros was able to arrange for her mum to be brought back home with the help of the Promedica24 care team. This additional help was arranged within a matter of days.
“I can’t thank the Promedica24 team enough for their help getting Mum home so quickly. It was an incredibly challenging time for us and all we wanted was for her to be in the place she feels most comfortable,” Ros added.
“Since Mum has been home after her traumatic trip to the hospital and the stay in the care home, she’s made a miraculous recovery. She came back having not been able to walk for six weeks and is now making amazing progress, getting more mobile, talking, remaining calm and back to beyond her normal self. It’s just wonderful to see.
“Live-in care has been a truly invaluable solution for our family. I honestly don’t know what we would’ve done without our lovely carers – Anna and Veronika, who have been inspirational in getting Mum back on her feet, boosting her morale and enabling her to have a comfortable and more independent life.”
Live-in care has proven to be a safe care solution for families and their loved ones during the pandemic. Care workers live in the home of the person they care for, providing companionship, support and care for a variety of health conditions and personal circumstances.
“Despite the overwhelming evidence that live-in care is a safe, affordable and viable care solution, too often, we find that it’s not as well-known as care homes, which local authorities tend to commission as the default,” said Chris White-Smith, Promedica24 West Sussex Franchise Partner.
“Our vision for the social care system is to see residents in local communities have more choice and control over the care they receive. Whether that’s at home with a live-in or domiciliary carer, in a residential care home, or in another setting, what’s important is that the option is there for them to make that decision.
“We cannot achieve this if live-in care is dismissed at the first hurdle. We must be able to work with hospitals and local authorities to safely discharge people back into the places and communities they call home.”
If you would like to find out more about Promedica24’s live-in care services in Worthing, please contact Chris White-Smith, West Sussex Regional Partner at C.White-Smith@promedica24.co.uk or 07836 256639.