Care Home

[jennyjoan]

went to visit friend in care home last night and she was not in great form AT ALL.

anyway one of the carers was hanging clothes in another room and I don't know what exactly happened but my friend went out to corridor and said to her "don't talk to me like I have dementia cos I don't like your attitude". Now I must say I have seen this carer be quite derisory with another resident a few weeks back. The carer just started ushering her away.

Next friend who refuses to be showered by staff after 10 months in there and so just washes herself everyday (which is good enough). She said that she had no hot water in the tap.

The room was roasting and so I tried out the tap and sure enough just very very lukewarm water eventually came out - like not warm enough to wash yourself per se.

With one thing and another my friend started to cry and said she wanted to take her life which I knew will never happen.

Would anybody know that the "very lukewarm water" is that way in case she (friend) got burned by hot water. Thanks

[Mamyalynne]

Presumably the water was previously hot enough to wash with?

Someone should report it to maintenance.

[jennyjoan]

this is the thing Mamy - I don't have a voice for her as she has a son and sister who are supposed to be involved.

next time I go down I'll try the water again. Like when I kept running the water it sorta went lukewarm and so I thought oh right it will go hot but my friend on the ball said - no wait it will cool again and so it did.

[jennyjoan]

The said carer would not have been approachable and anyway as I was leaving I went to go in and see another lady in the main lounge who I know and another very elderly lady like 90 was sitting on the ground with the said carer holding a bandage to her head.

There was another visitor there (a fella) - I said did the lady fall off a chair and bump her head and he said wryly - yes.

[bednobs]

of course you have a voice for her It dosent need a relative to say "xxxx's water isnt hot, can it be fixed please"

[Mamyalynne]

I can understand anti scalding prevention but it may be a simple fix is needed.

Could you ask the sister to report it?

[jennyjoan]

no I never see the sister or son - they only make very intermittent visits - son in particularly only stays for 5-10 mins and I would know that myself.

I'm afraid of being seen as interfering. Next time I'm down if the water is still luke warm I will definitely say.

[tiggerblue10]

Has she raised the issues her sister and son?

[tiggerblue10]

**with her sister and son

[jennyjoan]

Tig - I don't know cos when you ask questions, with her having a bit of dementia - she can't remember.

She did mention quite a number of times her sister and niece taking her to another home a couple of weeks ago in her words - the same as here but it has a fridge - so I know she has been brought to see another home so perhaps the sister knows she is unhappy.

[alavahalf]

Jenny ... I used to do the weekly checks in a nursing home and one of the checks was water temperature. The idea is that water should not rise above 43c. this prevents anyone who may not have their full wits about them from scalding themselves.
Under the basin there should be a adjustable mixer which is used to acheive this temperature. It is not to fiddled with though unless you are capable ... this is assuming the water is hot enough in the first place befor it arrives at the mixer.

[TonyV]

My personal experience of care homes is that you get good and bad carers, unfortunately paying the minimum wage, which most do, does not attract the best staff, except those that have a vocation for it.

[anneasquith]

If you are visiting your friend jj,, it’s not interfering asking a reasonable question on her behalf .

[Prudie]

I'm very surprised it's kept lukewarm and also 43 degrees mentioned by alavahalf. I though under HSE requirements most businesses including healthcare establishments had to keep the hot water at least 60 degrees C to prevent Legionella.