Acquired brain injury care Adult

 

Snapshot

 

  

 

Richard's* background

In 2016, dad of two Richard was involved in a road traffic accident whilst out cycling. Richard sadly wasn’t wearing a helmet and sustained a severe brain injury, including multiple fractures to his skull. The accident also caused a reduction in his eyesight and hearing. Richard’s respite care was soon coming to an end, and he required a provider to step in and create a package of care that could safely get him home and back into the community.

*Name has been changed for data protection

 

Four-week turnaround

Pulse Nursing at Home was approached through a private referral by a case management company. We had a tight turnaround of four weeks to put together a team of support workers that could provide Richard with 2:1 care on a 24/7 basis. We carried out an initial assessment in March 2019 and selected a team of highly skilled support workers who received specialist training to ensure they could meet Richard's individual needs.

 

  

 

He requested that one out of two Support Workers should be male, so we made sure this bespoke requirement was taken into consideration when choosing his team, to ensure Richard felt as comfortable as possible. Shadowing Richard’s current respite nurses came with its challenges as his care regime was so specific. However, the team did a thorough job of learning his daily and nightly routine, which allowed for a seamless discharge home which took place a month later in April 2019.

Going from strength to strength

It was difficult to gauge how Richard would adapt to being back in the community after his accident. His behaviour was challenging at the beginning, and it was important for his new support workers to gain his trust from the outset and ensure his transition moving into a new home on his own was as smooth as possible. This was successfully achieved through the knowledge and skill of the team and their effective communication with Richard and each other. Despite worries early on, Richard went from strength to strength following his discharge home. We initially allocated a support worker for waking day, night and live-in care. This quickly reduced to just a support worker for live-in care and a second support worker during the week for outings or when Richard was visiting his children. In consultation with the case manager, pleasingly we have been able to provide evidence to support a significant reduction in Richard's care needs. Through the high level of intensive care that we have delivered, the package has seen a 60% reduction in hours.

The outcome

We have successfully filled 100% of shifts to-date and with a stable team around him, Richard is now leading a fulfilling life. We received positive comments from Richard’s father and sister, who were involved throughout the four-week transition and had excellent feedback from the case management team who made the referral. He has been described as a ‘new man’, having lost 10kg of weight after undertaking a new healthy eating regime introduced by his support workers. He is learning new life skills such as cooking and is experimenting with food he’s never tried before. He has supervised visits to see his children every week, and since being home has enjoyed weekend trips to the beach and day trips to watch his favourite football team. Without the help of Pulse Nursing at Home, Richard wouldn’t be the man he is today.

How can we support you?

For more information about the types of care we offer, or to book a no-obligation meeting with one of our specialist business managers, please call 020 7959 1003, or complete the enquiry form below.