Table 5 Patient Circumstances
Quote no | Quote | Data source |
|---|---|---|
1 | When I go to them I’ll always say, ‘what caused you to end up on the floor?’ And sometimes even if they have got dementia, they have got some recollection of what happened. | Call 6, P7 interview |
2 | I was able to ask [the neighbour] questions about the patient in terms of how is she compared to normal. And that’s really useful to have. ‘Cos she looked fairly pale to me, but her neighbour said she didn’t look like abnormally pale, which was reassuring. | Call 4, P5 interview |
3 | She then began to read a hospital discharge letter and notes folder. There were two folders, one appeared to be for carers, the other appeared to be more hospital related letters and previous paramedic forms. | Call 3, field notes |
4 | The paramedic read through the [care] notes and found an extensive history of mental health problems including schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder and dementia. | Call 5, field notes |
5 | Often I’ve said to care agencies ... all you need is a sheet at the front that just says a simple medical history and some contact details ... at the very least, a list of medications, allergies. ...It’s not hard to put that at the front of a care plan. | Call 4, P5 interview |
6 | The paramedic found the GP notes very difficult to read as they were erratic notes on a scrap of paper and the hand writing difficult to read. | Call 5, field notes |
7 | I definitely wasn’t thinking ‘oh, he has dementia, he has to go into hospital’; or ‘I’m not taking him to hospital, because he has dementia’. [Dementia] doesn’t play that much of a part in my decision-making. … I think it maybe just makes him a little bit more vulnerable. If you’re treating him in the community ....you’d maybe just want to make sure that there is support in place – which I think there is. | Call 3, P3 interview |
8 | If she hadn’t had dementia I probably wouldn’t’ve even mentioned not going to hospital, to be honest. But anyone in a care home immediately has a higher level of care. They’re not by themselves. They’ve not got a carer popping in like four times a day. They’ve got permanent care. So ... the ability to leave them there is higher. And with someone with dementia ... you know their condition’s going to get worse when they’re in hospital. It always does. So if you can avoid it, it’s best. But in this case it’s not really possible. | Call 8, P10 interview |
9 | He almost needs somebody kind of ... like a relative or a friend, doesn’t he, just to socially be with. | Call 3, P3 interview |