I slept quite well until the usual 05.00, which as usual made me lurch towards coffee. And then I drank it. I booked a slightly later swim, which was not entirely wise because it meant I was driving amongst rush hour and school traffic.
There had been yet more heavy overnight rain and the roads were flooded once more, in the usual places.
The pool was not too busy, but my lane varied. Anyway I ploughed my way up and down, for my 1km, nearly drowning in the boredom of it all.
And, as is the way of things, the sun was shining for my journey home and stayed shining for about an hour. Cloudy grey skies and a few spots of rain were what followed.
I got rid of the chlorine and found some clothes and prepared myself for a Heidi walk. Before going out, I tried a couple of disastrous screen prints. Hmm… satisfying to do, but I need to put more care and thought into it. I used the kit Pen sent, which contained nice paints and other equipment,
H and I took ourselves on the pond walk. Today, I was paying more attention and forbade her entry to the cricket pitch field. Yesterday, she took herself in there and she found some open front gardens bordering the pitch to be of great interest.
The ponds were disappointing today due to the absence of fucks. But the reeds held irresistible temptations and I had a wet dog once again.
And, just like yesterday, she rolled in the very same long grass. Some other irresistible temptation.
By the time I arrived home, Penny was only a few minutes away, at the end of her journey from Devon.
We had planned to grab lunch at the B and W but I had not booked. They were not busy, the place was almost empty. But some upstart waitress turned us away on the pretext they already had too many walk ins. I was not impressed. It is never wise to turn locals away.
We went to the Oxshed for some of their tasty soup. Their tables for four were mainly occupied by one person per table, each working on a lap top. But I knew there would be space round the back where the toddlers hang out.
I gave Pen and Ali the Highgrove forget-me-not enamels. A little gift from me from their Dad. Just the sort of present he would have bought them. Forget-me-nots are symbols of the Alzheimer’s Society.
(Ali had joined us for lunch. )
We headed towards Battle Barns for our meeting with the Sue Ryder team. Present were chief nurse, Sylvia and consultant doctor Sam, and a note taker.
The meeting started slightly awkwardly. But Alex spoke at length as our advocate and Pen added supporting evidence. And I just muttered.
But, unexpectedly, they held their hands up and they conceded all our points. And we parted on reasonable terms. We will receive a letter confirming this, which we await with interest, hoping it will say what they say it will.
Summary …
In brief…
SR. Meeting :
Acknowledged they got it wrong for us
They should have come out to us the day I asked for help
They should have put emergency care package in place especially night care
Agreed they didn’t listen / ask the right questions
Will be putting in place training to deal with issues we had to contend with
Want to use T as a case study
Would like us to contribute to training needs etc
The Nurse concerned is now on performance review
Alex’s killer question to the senior nurse at the meeting today ….”After my mother’s
phone call asking for help… what would have expected your response to be after such a call?”
Hopefully good will come out of this. For other people. Which was our intention.
And Tony, we have fought on your behalf, much as you would have done, in your time, to right a wrong. Rest in peace… As I said at your funeral … I ( no – we) am with you all the way. Be proud of your daughters.
Thought for the Day
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