Care guidance
The Grace Care Adviser has supported me throughout. Without her help and advice I don't know where we would have been.
Olivia’s mother had been living with her since her father died a year ago. She’d been experiencing pains in her legs and had been told that she'd probably need a hip replacement in due course but otherwise she was OK. Then suddenly she had a stroke.
She spent time in the Royal Berkshire Hospital. She'd lost movement on her right side and also couldn't talk properly. She'd been seeing a speech and language therapist daily and her speech was improving. She’d also increased movement in her right arm.
Olivia was terribly stressed and didn't know what to do. The hospital asked her to come to a case conference. She had been told that her mother would be going to Woking for her rehab due to her postcode. This was over 40 miles away - much too far and too expensive transport-wise for her to visit regularly.
She sought help from Grace Consulting. Her Care Adviser listened to the situation and understood Olivia’s concerns immediately.
Her Care Adviser advised Olivia on what she should say in the case conference. She told her to argue that it was in her mother's best interests that she should be able to visit her and she wouldn't be able to do so if her mother was 40 miles away. Her Adviser stressed that Olivia should use that key phrase - best interests.
Olivia attended the conference and argued her case. She felt much more confident than she would have otherwise. As a direct consequence of her argument, the panel ruled that it was not in her mother's best interests to move to Woking and instead arranged for her to be discharged back home with care, which was the best possible outcome.
An occupational therapist came out, putting in place a hospital bed, commode and a hoist, and she arranged for 2 carers to visit 4 times a day.
The Grace Care Adviser sent useful information on caring for someone at home and the rules on paying for care so that Olivia could make sure her mother only paid for what she had to and received all the benefits she was entitled to.
With the help from her Care Adviser, Olivia felt supported and confident that she was making the best decisions to aid her mother’s recovery. She managed to arrange care for her mother when the NHS care stopped and also made sure her mother was receiving direct payments from Social Services to pay for most of this. She felt relieved and thankful they had achieved so much.