A discharge from the Whittington, and a flat that needed thinking about
A man in his seventies discharged from the Whittington after a stroke, returning to a third-floor flat in Archway with a lift that was out of service more often than not. Medically ready to go home; practically, the flat was the problem rather than the stroke.
We put four visits a day in place for the first three weeks, focused on the things that would decide whether he stayed independent — getting safely to the bathroom, getting food in, and getting out of the building at least twice a week so the flat did not become the whole of his world. We referred to occupational therapy for a bathroom rail and a perching stool, and to the Stroke Association helpline for the questions we were not qualified to answer.
At the six-week review he was down to two visits a day and making his own lunch. The lift was still out of service.
“They were straight with me about what they could and could not fix. The lift was not theirs to fix, but everything else was sorted.”