Who Can Care For Me Now? by Elizabeth Orr

Author:Elizabeth Orr [Elizabeth Orr]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781912562978
Publisher: Clink Street Publishing
Published: 2018-01-21T16:00:00+00:00

Mathew

The Manager of the Care Company told me that Mathew did not tick all of the boxes she and I discussed at the nursing home prior to Norman’s discharge but, at this moment in time, she did not have an alternative. She also told me that she was not sure of Mathew’s suitability and would continue to look for a more suitable carer.

Possibly, the problems with Mathew were, firstly cultural because he was African and, secondly, the fact that he did not drive. Not being able to drive had many knock-on problems. The house was approximately six miles from the local town and so you needed a car to travel anywhere. The location was in a rural part of the country and although we have half a dozen neighbours, there is very little to do unless you like walking. It is a picturesque part of the world with many paths to walk. Mathew not being able to drive also meant that he was unable to take Norman out and about whilst both Kevin and I were at work. Also, it was now down to either Kevin or myself to collect Norman’s medication and to drive him to any medical or any other appointment. The extra chores did not phase either Kevin or myself as we were perfectly happy to drive Norman wherever he needed to go, but it did mean that he spent more time indoors than perhaps we would have liked. However Mathew was here with us now and we needed to make the most of the situation.

Initially, I felt compassion for Mathew as he had been kind enough to come to us with very short notice, little preparation and next to no handover from Robin. Robin had left Norman in his wheelchair with us in the lounge and Mathew also sat with us. We all enjoyed an evening meal and once finished, the evening started to march on until late for Norman to be transferred to bed and I felt the need to ask Mathew if he was going to put him to bed. His face glazed over and there was obviously a problem. It transpired that Mathew had no idea as to how to use the ceiling hoist or sling. This was our first very important lesson on the lack of training of carers and it also highlighted that to some degree we had taken Robin for granted as we had nothing to compare him against. It was now quite late and Norman needed to go to bed. I logged on to the internet to download instructions on using the slings and hoist for Mathew to read whilst Kevin became the guinea pig in the hoist instructing Mathew how to put the sling on and use the hoist. After approximately an hour of Kevin being hoisted in and out of bed by Mathew; Mathew swatting up on the paperwork I had downloaded, we all felt it was safe to hoist Norman into bed. Mathew also needed training on the use of convenes and he was not particularly happy that he did not have another carer to help.

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