The wife of a pensioner suffering from dementia and Parkinson’s Disease says her husband has been ‘left to rot’ in a Lanarkshire hospital because the local council can't offer him a home care package.
Archie Finlayson, 79, was admitted to Udston Hospital in Hamilton on March 24, on a 28-day hold as doctors believed it was in his best interest to receive short-term psychiatric care.
Medics were happy with his improvement and Archie was due to be discharged on June 13 so he could return home to Carstairs, where he lives with wife Roberta, 78.
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But the family were informed just days before his return home that Archie could not leave the hospital until an appropriate care package was in place.
Heartbroken Roberta, who has been regularly making a 40-mile trip to visit Archie, claims South Lanarkshire Council said the care package could not be set up due to a shortage of carers.
She told the Daily Record: “Archie has been left to rot in hospital because the council don't know when they will be able to source a carer.
“The council said no carers were available and they had outsourced the work but no one had picked it up. He is heartbroken at not being able to come home - so am I.
"He will have to wait and stay in hospital until a care package is available. Archie has been desperate to get home for weeks and he is really upset. I even phoned two private companies but they can't help."
The pensioner has to travel an hour and a half to see Archie. With petrol costs rising, she now spends twice as much on fuel than she used to - with her average weekly cost now at £60.
Roberta has offered to care for her husband of 41 years in the meantime with the help of family but her request was denied because he needs professional care four times a day.
She added: "Because Archie has dementia this is quite distressing and unsettling for him. We are just desperate to get him home."
Soumen Sengupta, Director, Health and Social Care at South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership, said: “Our social care services continue to be faced with significant pressures – and we recognise that this can impact on individuals and families in a way that none of us would wish.
“The demand for Care at Home services in particular is especially high and currently outstrips capacity – a situation that is occurring across Scotland.
"We are unable to comment on individual cases but we do work closely with our hospital colleagues to try to ensure patients are discharged home when they are clinically ready. In every case, we do our utmost to ensure the most appropriate package is in place as soon as is practically possible.
“We have made strong progress in recent months in reducing our levels of delayed discharges – I continue to appreciate the support and patience of our communities for the tireless work that our social care and health care staff are doing on their behalf.”
NHS Lanarkshire declined to comment.
