Hello to everyone on this forum, I hope you don't think me rude and pushy, but I'm so desperate for help with this really troubling situation. My name is Perry James and I live in London in the UK. My mum is called Joan and she's 80 years old. a month ago she was given a tablet (by a doctor who hadn't even spoken to her over the phone, let alone interviewed her)and the very same night she woke up disorientated and fell down the stairs. I have always lived with my mum and dad and I was listening out in case the tablet made her afraid, it takes her some time to get used to different types of treatments. Unfortunately, I don't know what the tablet was, as the ambulance people took the box with them when they came, but I remember it was an anti-psychotic. When my mum arrived at the hospital she had banged her head and was really confused - even though she didn't lose consciousness. A social worker asked her what happened and she told them that she'd been beaten by "Dad" - which they took to mean my Dad (an 84 year old man who loves her dearly, and who has never raised his hand to anyone). Since then, I have tried to clear the matter up, and so has she, and I thought we'd made the people at the hospital realise what my mum had said. Since then, the hospital won't allow my mum to come home, even though she's had a brain scan that revealed no signs of dementia or any damage due to the fall. They insist she stays in a hospital bed and isn't allowed to move to even use the toilet. They have turned a fully mobile woman into a frail shell of a person and they continue to do so. To add to this she has already fallen from the hospital bed during her stay, so they can't tell me she's getting the care she needs from these people. All we want is for her to come home, but they keep putting us off and off and off, all the while she is left to lay on a small bed with absolutely no mental stimulation from the staff. Nobody is listening to us and I haven't slept in over a week with the stress and worry. They are going to cause my beloved Mum to develope pressure sores and to pick up germs from the other patients. Oh, God, why isn't anybody listening to my family? We need help so badly, and there's nobody out here on our side. She needs to come home ASAP, does anyone know what'll happen to me if I just walk out of the hospital with her? Will I be arrested, for trying to protect my own mother? As, you can tell from my spelling, I'm at the end of the road and I just don't know what to do. Perry

Dear Perry.

No, my dear, I am afraid I cannot help you. My knoeledge is about people who actually have a form of dementia. I can only suggest you get advice from your own doctor or the citizens advice bureau and pray someone can help you

Jill