When our Admiral Nurse, Lucy, visited Philip, he was the main carer for his mother, Julie, and described himself as "making things up as he went along" in respect of looking after her. He was seeking an expert eye on what else he might be doing for her and to better understand what stage his mother's dementia was at.
He recognised things had deteriorated over the past year following the passing of his father and knew his mother was very poorly, requesting specialist advice and support around care planning and end of life care needs.
"The Admiral Nurse closed the gap with the GP surgery about my mother's condition and guided what turned out to be the end-of-life journey. Lucy got to know my mother and the family, and she gave practical support on many things, acknowledging that managing Alzheimer's is as much about the carers who carry the burden, which was a great relief.
"Lucy enabled me to feel that I could continue to cope with things, providing me with structure, reassurance and practical help from which my mother strongly benefitted because I felt more in control and satisfied with what I was doing for her.
"More than anything her contribution was empowering and focused attention on those best placed to sustain and improve the care received by my mother."
