Another Review Meeting and the possibiliy of a more positive outcome

The Social Services post assessment review meeting took place today. Yes, whoop whoop, another meeting. How I love meetings!!!!

Direct Payments were discussed. Don't they sound like wonderful things? Payments made to patients to buy the care they need. Problem is the paperwork. Somebody, namely me, would have to take responsiblity for writing a kind of justification for funding, then should funding be agreed I would have to interview the person or persons to provide the care (finding them in the first place might prove a tad difficult) and then finally and regularly completing a sort of book-keeping exercise. I said that I am not anti doing this...in that if it actually meant my father getting the right kind of additional care that would be a good thing. However, I do not like bureaucracy and although I worked with reams of varying paperwork for years, my tolerance levels are not what they were and I am not inclined to complete endless pieces of paper that mean fekk all to me or Dad. I think the Direct Payments idea is in a kind of limbo but somebody agreed to send me the paperwork to look at. More thrilling stuff eh?

Paying 'Age Concern' to do his shopping was another area of discussion although that would be at a cost of £12 per hour. Now Dad isn't flush enough to keep paying for things and he is already paying for the meals on wheels service and will now be making a financial contribution to the private care company that will provide his evening care service. Having seen the highlights of last week's docu on private care companies...am not feeling all warm and fluffy about the service he is likely to get but gotta go with it and see if it is 15 minutes of quality care time per day!!!!

The only really positive outcome, and that took about an hour to get to, was that a higher level care provision home is being looked into. Not a residential home...but a flat where care staff are working there most of the day and can spend time with Dad. I dunno whether that will be progress or not but I think it will, at least, provide more daily and professional contact than he is getting now.

Dad's view on all this is that he wants to want to do things and doesn't see himself improving wherever he is. I can understand that, but as I said to him and the staff at the meeting, it is really about the best quality of life and care you can get, feeling how you are. Dad said he wants ECT. I think he is hoping for some intervention that will make everything better. I guess alot of us hope for that but in the real world, certainly my real world, I haven't found that kind of intervention yet.

Actually, if he wants the ECT and the shrink agrees that it might help him, I won't stand in the way. When people get desperate, who am I to say what is and isn't ok to be done to their body? All I know is he had it before and it didn't make any difference. Perhaps it might work now but I am full of doubt.

So, we are now waiting for an appointment to be made to view the more supported accomodation. I am waiting for loads of paperwork to be sent through for me to wade through and for the care co-ordinator to sort out the latest cock up on Dad's meds front. He was only given enough medication to last him till today and his next lot of meds aren't due till Friday. AND SO IT GOES....

Have updated MP and is now on to the next stage of the waiting game.

Am heading off back to my garden. I am finding spending time there, reading, pretty therapeutic and demand free.