Lack of resources makes dementia care impossibly hard

Sandra, mum had dementia and a difficult time in hospital. You sound very critical of healthcare professionals. Are you? No. I'm angry I think at the system, the way it works. They do try to do their best. Obviously there are some that aren't very good and probably shouldn't be looking after dementia patients but there's no resources. There's nothing. It's all based on people that you know you can cure and send out and they'll be all right. Dementia, you know is going to go downhill. How many hospitals has your mum admitted to in the last couple of years of life? She was Paddington and Westmead. More than one occasion? Oh God, yes. Was it a resource issue that you noticed pretty much every time or? and bad. I think Paddington was my worst experience, if I'm honest. I think that's where I got the vibes of we can't be bothered. And they're busy. What can you say? They're busy. They haven't got time. A dementia patient needs, not necessarily 24-hour care, but they need the time. And nurses don't have the time. You know if you've got a broken leg, they'll come and say, are you in any pain there's two pills that's fine. You go to a dementia patient you're not gonna get that response immediately it's gonna take time. What you're saying is you got that vibe you knew they were busy running around but it's a case of they just haven't got the resources to be able to spend that time with them. No and if you asked anything sometimes when you ask them something it was as though you shouldn't be asking that you're causing you know what do you want to know that and it's well it's my mum you know tell tell I can't express more is talk to the family if you've got a problem with anything to do with dementia and you can't deal with it talk to the family they're there all right you're gonna get some friends that couldn't care but the ones that do you know the ones that do they're there every day they get they go with mum every appointment so you know the ones that care, is talk to them, because they can help. We would have come in, gladly, I would have given mum dinner, I would have come in every day and given mum dinner, but we weren't told. But you did feel acutely that there was a resource issue, and if people had more time they would have done more. It's not specifically the fault of the hospital or the staff, it's the resource issue within there. You know, it is the resources of the, you know, what they're allowed to do and what they're given to do. And it's specialised. They need a specialised place to put them. I know that sounds terrible, but they need to be all together in one place where they can be looked after. Because sometimes, you know, I mean when Mum went to the day centre at Ham, they had like a table and on that table was all the people that couldn't eat or weren't capable of eating. And you would have two or maybe three care assistants and they would each be looking after those people to help them to eat. And they would go around but they had, you know, and they would go around and get them to eat. They would help them, they would assist them to aid. But that's time, money. National Health don't have that. Resources aren't there. I don't know what they're going to do now it's getting worse because of small people and we're living longer.