Patient's fear over 'blocking' vital bed

Photo: Darren Robinson

THE Royal Oldham Hospital

A WOMAN has been unable to leave the Royal Oldham Hospital more than six weeks after surgery because a local council is struggling to arrange home care for her.

Tarnia Canham (62) is blind and has declined offers of temporary accommodation in a residential home, saying she needs to return to her own home with familiar surroundings and care staff.

Ms Canham received home help before being admitted to hospital ­- but now her local council, Bury, says the care agency responsible is struggling to cope with demand there.

She had surgery for a health condition unrelated to blindness at the Royal Oldham Hospital in late August. Now, as she enters her sixth week in hospital, she says she needs answers about the home help delays ­- especially as she previously received home care up until going into hospital.

Ms Canham was admitted to the Royal Oldham on August bank holiday Monday. She had treatment the next day, Tuesday, August 30, and felt she was well enough to return home on the Wednesday.

Ms Canham emphasised that she has no complaints about the Royal Oldham's care. She simply wants to return home and is concerned about "blocking" a valuable hospital bed.

She contacted the Chronicle about her situation and said: "I've been in hospital for weeks. I'm in my own small room, which is part of a larger ward. All the hospital staff have been great and very caring. I've no complaints about the hospital. But I just want to go home.

"I've declined going to a residential home for the simple reason that I'm blind. I need to be back in my own home, where I feel safe amid familiar surroundings and staff. I'm worried that if I went into a residential home then I'd be forgotten about.

"I've been blind since birth and I usually have care workers who visit me at home in Bury, helping me with washing, cooking and shopping. I don't know what the problem is. I recently spoke to a nurse about it, who said the hospital trust is looking into it.

"It's not as though my situation has been suddenly sprung upon them. I think I'm entitled to some answers now."

In response to the home help delay, a Bury Council spokesman said: "We work extremely hard to ensure that residents who are due to leave hospital receive the care they need back in their home and community, and this case is no different.

"Ms Canham's existing care package was stopped when she went into hospital, and we are in the process of working with domiciliary care providers to identify an agency with the capacity to deliver the level of care required for her for when she leaves.

"Unfortunately the agencies we commission to provide care across the borough tell us that they simply do not have the capacity to provide the service at this present time as there are particular pressures in the area where this lady lives. This, however, changes all the time, and our commissioning team will ensure that the case is prioritised as soon as capacity becomes available.

"We have offered Ms Canham respite care in a residential home as an interim measure until the necessary care hours become available so she can return home safely. However, she has refused this offer on two occasions.

"We will continue to do all we can to help Ms Canham leave hospital and receive the care she needs."

A spokesman for The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust added: "Delayed discharge and bed-blocking are problems that many trusts up and down the country experience. Here at the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust we are continuing to work closely with our colleagues in primary care, community care and social services to improve patient flow in and out of our hospitals and to speed up discharge for our patients who are medically fit, either back to their own home or to a community setting such as a residential care home."