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Moseley Chimes
March 2008
Moseley Hall Hospital, on the Alcester Road, provides care for hundreds of elderly patients each year who are admitted following an episode of ill health or deterioration in their functional ability.
Patients are admitted via their GP, or from local hospitals. Most patients have complex medical and social needs, with a range of medical diagnoses including: falls, Parkinson’s Disease, stroke, and dementia, to name only a few.
For many patients the admission to hospital occurs most unexpectedly, and they are seldom mentally prepared. Most have local family or friends, who will act to ensure that the patient has all the necessary items for their hospital stay, such as clothes, underwear and shoes.
Some patients have no-one who can support their personal needs or supply such necessary items. In this instance, nursing staff search endlessly for suitable items of clothing and footwear in the ‘lost property’ or laundry. By shear luck they somehow manage to kit out these patients, but this cannot continue.
It is well recognised that, poorly-fitting footwear is amongst the biggest cause of accidents among elderly people. A simple pair of slippers could make a valuable difference to an elderly person. Enabling them to feel comfortable and more confident to get up and walk around the hospital or their own home. It may even help their balance and walking pattern!
With the help of the congregations of St Mary’s and St Anne’s on Mothering Sunday (Sunday 22 March), I am hoping to boost our stock of spare charitable footwear for these patients. All will be most gratefully received.