Around this time last year my dad who as Alzheimer’s was admitted to hospital with a chest infection, whist he was obviously not right I would not describe him as being seriously ill on admission. A couple of days after he admitted I received a call from the hospital asking me how quickly I could get there. Om arriving at the hospital I was immediately ushered in to side room before having the opportunity to see or speak to anyone, I am sure you can imagine I was fearing the worst. A Doctor came to speak with me who informed me that due to my Dads Alzheimer’s he was going to withdraw treatment. When I objected, he said that he had no quality of life or wouldn’t have after the illness so there was no point treating him. Up to that Day this doctor had met me or my Dad so I asked what he basing this opinion on, up to admission my had a good quality of life, he got out with family and friends most days either going to the pub for a couple of drinks or going to his grand/greatgrandchildren. He would probably forget he had seen them shortly afterwards but enjoy seeing them in the moment and interact with them.
Whilst I accept that someone with Alzheimer’s in there mid 80’s any infection was serious and there was no guarantee of a good outcome I was not ready to give up on him yet. I made this very clear to the Doctor. The Doctor told me it was NOT my decision because he felt it was medically in his best interest. At this point I reminded him that has his Power of attorney it was my decision. It was for me to decide what was in his best interests NOT the hospital, it was clear in the POA that withdrawing life saving treatment was the responsibility of the attorneys. After some debate and threat of legal action he agreed to continue treatment. Part of the doctors rational for withdrawing treatment was my was he was very flat and not responsive, this was a surprise the previous day he was fine. A lot of the issue seem to have only happened on moving wards so I asked to review his medication. The reason for him being very flat soon became clear he was enough Valium to knock an elephant out, let alone an elderly gentleman. I insisted this was removed because there was no medical need reason for the Valium, he just made him easier to manage. (They had one care assistant to look after six dementia patients).
On removing the Valium and reintroducing the Antibiotics he recovered and was discharged back to the care home a few days later. Alzheimer’s is a progressive illness and one year later it continues to diminish his capacity. However, he still mobile but needs a frame and still get out six days out Seven and as good quality of life. We are fortunate that he lives in good quality dementia care home who respect the family and the fact we have the power of attorney. The message for is simple if was not for the fact we have the power of attorney for health and welfare instead of looking forward to Christmas I would have been organising his funeral this time last year.
Whilst this situation was extremely stressful, I am so thankful we had the power of attorney, I do not like to think how I would have felt knowing the Doctor was wrong but not being able to prevent him from legally killing my dad. The family are the best people to decide what is in his best interest not someone who as only met him for few minutes. If the time comes where it is in his best intertest to let him go, I am confident that the family no matter how hard it will be will make the decision on what is right for him.
I cannot help but think the NHS was thinking about budgets and not his best interests, dementia patients are expensive the care and medication they need can easily reach to more than £100,000 a year. We are lucky this is fully funded by the NHS but it easy to understand why the NHS and the local authorities are keen for the patients or families to contribute towards there care. Without the Power of Attorney all health and welfare and financial decisions are taken by the NHS and the Council the families have little or no say in the matter.
My dad lives a very good dementia care home which was found by the family doing their research and visiting all the local facilities that the council were willing to pay for and deciding which facility met his needs best. Then working with the social workers and nurses who hold the purse strings to ensure he the right facility with a care plan that suits his needs. We can only do this because we have the POA the law says they must do this, we have to agree the care plan.
