care after discharge from hospital
 

i wonder if anyone can me and my sister, our mum is in hospital at the moment, very poorly, we are being helped by her partner and his family, but things are getting heated between us all, we dont understand how things work in hospital in spain, how they will manage when she comes home is there any care avaiable to look after her is it down to family to look after them. they live near motril. any advice greatly apriceated.

Re: care after discharge from hospital
 

As far as I know then yes, it will be the family's responsibility to look after her when she comes home. It is actually also the family's responsibility to care for her in the hospital itself, is anyone doing this?

Nurses are there to provide the medical care but the family are expected to help with the personal care

Re: care after discharge from hospital
 

that is how I understood the situation, although the only experience I have is with a friend who was recently in the Granada maternity hospital with complications. In fact they wanted to discharge the baby before the mother
:eek:

Re: care after discharge from hospital
 

yes her partner's family have been staying the night and help with personal care my sister went out last week and i am due to go out saturday just wondered if people are required to stay everynight now she is getting better

Re: care after discharge from hospital
 

The nurses in the hospitals only deal with dressings and medication and do not do personal care. All other care issues are left to the family, someone is expected to accompany the patient at all times. There is no such thing as visiting times because of this factor.

When the patient is discharged it is down to the family to care for them. In some areas where there is a large population of Brits I believe that there are organisations that can help but do not know what it is like in that area.

It is exhausting providing this constant care over long periods of time if you are on your own with it all so make sure that you sort out any disagreements so that you can work out a good rota of care for her.

Rosemary

Re: care after discharge from hospital
 

thanks for the advice if anybody knows of any care in the carchuna/motril area or anybody look for a care job please let me know

Re: care after discharge from hospital
 

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Sorry that I did not include my welcome in my previous post, I had not noticed that it was your first post and reacted to you query.

I had the sole care of my husband for almost 3 years with times at home with extremely intense medical needs and times in hospital which were long and difficult so I have first hand experience of the system in my area but do not know your area so it maybe slightly different.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Re: care after discharge from hospital
 

very wise words from Rosemary
:goodpost:


there is nothing worse for a patient who doesn't want to be there in the first place than to have people bickering about the provision of the personal care, it will only make them feel unwanted, which isn't conducive to the getting well again.
keep all arguements outside and be friends inside.

`

Re: care after discharge from hospital
 

i know not looking forward to meeting the family at weekend the arguments are being done by email i will keep quiet in front of my mum thats why i am trying to arrange care for my mum when i leave and my sisiter leaves in mid march.

Re: care after discharge from hospital
 

Do you know any other Brits in the area who may know what is available? If you cannot sort out some care for her in Spain would that mean that she might have to return to the UK so that you can organise things for her?

Very difficult situation, good luck with it all.

Rosemary

Re: care after discharge from hospital
 

think so when she is well enough to travel we are considering that option, will have to talk with her at the weekend

Re: care after discharge from hospital
 

Dianne, may I suggest that email may be the de-facto means of communication and superior to texting but can never ever replace the simple process of a one to one across a cup of tea/coffee/strong drink.
even skype has its limitations but is more personal than email

if your mother's partner and family are not English then it will be magnified 10fold or more.

whilst not wishing to sound harsh, that is the last thing none of you need, but your mother is lucky there is someone and family that are able to do something for her. you and sister will be the icing on the cake.

I trust she gets better soon and you can easily iron out the small differences.

kind regards

`

Re: care after discharge from hospital
 

The Spanish health system seems to get much praise in these forums, but this is one side that always seems a bit weird to me. Friends of ours, the husband had quite a serious operation in Granada, and the wife was more or less expected to be there all the time to see to his needs. As they lived a good hour away, it's was pretty much a full time job for her. What happens when the only relative is working? Give up work? There are bound to be circumstances when it is very difficult for a family member to be there.

Re: care after discharge from hospital
 

The Spanish have something called Extended Families, a concept that may have disappeared from the UK

When my wife's uncle was in hospital, the brothers/sisters, sons/daughters, cousins, nephews/nieces etc all took turns being in hospital to look after him

The positives are that the ill person feels loved - and it keeps costs down in the health service. The Spanish health service is excellent at very little spend per patient, a third less than in the UK, less than half that of the US

Re: care after discharge from hospital
 

yes agree, and especially when you consider that there are many people who are an hour or more from Granada. Even someone living nearby could have difficulties in being there all the time..
that is one of the rarely discussed drawbacks of being an expat in this fine country - you don't often have family around you like flies to help out. Just the other/better half.
:(