Pain relief at home

Diddums 2 years ago

3 replies

My mum is getting palliative care at hospital (in a pre surgical ward) and the plan is to transfer her home . The doctor thought that i would not be allowed to give her the morphine she is on at home for legal reasons. She wasnt 100% sure about this though. The issue is that i think she is on morphine 4x a day liquid. If im not allowed to give it to her at home then is a nurse really going to come 4 x a day just to give morphine liquid ?? From what i understand the district nurse wont be coming to give personal care e.g. bathing so im surprised they will find one to come 4 times a day  .

Is it worth my mum getting the covid vaccine ? again the doctor didnt seem to think it would be worth it

PennyS 2 years ago

Hello and welcome to the Marie Curie community . We're sorry to read that your Mum is needing palliative care, we are here to support you at this difficult time.

Diddums 2 years ago

Thank you for your message. I agree that her pain relief is not being controlled. She was fine then they switched her onto tablets despite the fact she was having problems swallowing. There was one day she started coughing up frothy foam after they gave her the tablets when i was there. They have now switched her back  to liquid (oxycodone not morphine, i asked about this today) but she is really really drowsy which wasnt the case previously so it sounds like 4 x a day is too much. She is also given paracetamol for breakthrough pain.  The ward  doctor seems to have no role in pain relief prescribing and they just shrug their shoulders and say i need to speak to the palliative care team who only come on the ward about once a week.  I  had a meeting with one and she couldnt tell me what pain relief my mum was on despite holding my mums notes in her hand. The doctors in the pre-surgical ward seem to rotate every week and are rarely there when i visit. The ward does not seem to cater for patients who are in hospital for longer than a week which is another reason why i want her out as soon as possible .

As i say my question was more about the ward doctor saying that they didnt think non healthcare professionals could administer opiates at home . Im was prepared to do this until the doctor suggested that legally this wasnt possible

PennyS 2 years ago

I am sorry that your Mum's pain isn't controlled and that you are struggling to get the help that you need .It is hard when the Dr's are rarely there when you visit ,it might be helpful if you can ask the nurses to arrange for a Dr or a nurse from the palliative care team to see your Mum and you as she would benefit from having her pain relief reviewed and also to explore why she is more drowsy as there are numerous reasons for this.