William Young and his elderly mother Alice
Eighty-year-old sick pensioner Alice Young is a prisoner in her own bed, according to her son, William.
Because Co. Derry man William Young, 55, claims the Western Health Trust is leaving his mother Alice confined to her bed for the next four months!
He says that’s how long the Trust has told him and his Mum it will take for her to be assessed for using a specially adapted wheelchair, so she can get out of bed -- and even eat properly.
And he says his octogenarian mother is becoming ‘sad and upset’ as she waits for an occupational therapist to come out to examine her back for a special needs wheelchair.
And even then, says William, Alice will still be confined to her care home bed as she waits for her specialised chair to arrive.
William explained: “It's been three weeks since I was told that it would take 16-18 weeks just for an occupational therapist to come out an examine my mother to see what type of a wheelchair she needs. In the meantime she's totally confined to the bed.
“To leave her lying in bed for all that time before an occupational therapist can come out is ridiculous and cruel - and then goodness knows how long it'll take after that to get the chair made and for it to be delivered.”
But in another damning development, when we contacted the Western Trust, they told us that ‘the maximum current waiting ‘ for assessment by their occupational therapists is NOT even 16 to 18 weeks -- but TWENTY FIVE weeks.
William explained how the staff at the Limavady care home have been trying their utmost to get his mother to use a wheelchair -- “but her back was in too poor a condition”, he claims.
He said: “My mother is very elderly and has a very bad back which causes her to lean very far forward – her head is nearly touching the ground. She's had the C difficile bug as well and a bleeding ulcer. She had to be taken into hospital on Boxing Day. She was in hospital for about 10 weeks before being taken directly to her care home in Limavady."
William added: “When she went in to the nursing home at the start they tried to get her out of bed and put her into a wheelchair, but she was leaning too far forward, which was no good.
“They weren't even able to feed her because her head was so low. They then realised that they would have to get a specialised chair.”
According to William, the specialised chair, when it arrives, will enable Alice to have a lot more freedom.
“She'll be able get her out of bed and go to the wee day room where they go in and watch TV and listen to music,” he said. “The wheelchair will let her move about and give her a little independence.”
Now William wants to know why the process of getting an occupational therapist to see his mother while she is bedridden is going to take so long.
“I think they should have assessed her in the hospital. That would have made sense to me,” he said.
Having lived with his mother his entire life, William told of how he didn't see himself merely as her 'carer', telling of how looking after his mother is just something he's always naturally done.
He explained: “I have been living with my mother all my life. I've always cared for her, but I've never just seen myself as a carer, as the nurses call me, because I feel looking after her was just the normal thing to do.”
He added: “My mother has Alzheimers as well, and she has dementia. Some days she's down and she'll tell me that she's 'fed up'. She tells me she just wants to be back in her wee house again and I have to explain to her that I can't take her back.
“I don't know if she'll ever get back to her wee house. Being honest, it just breaks my heart.”
We contacted the Western Health and Social Care Trust for a statement.
A spokesperson said: “Respecting patient/client confidentiality the Trust does not comment on individual cases.
“Within the Western Trust’s Community Occupational Therapy Service, the maximum current waiting time for assessment is 25 weeks. The Western Trust regrets that anyone is waiting an extended time to receive an appointment and is making every effort to reduce waiting times.”