Help pleas ignored

Published: 2 April 2010

I CARE for an elderly, diabetic lady, who I visit in the evenings. On one occasion I found her panicking as she tried to inject her insulin, because no nurses had turned up within three hours of telephoning them.

I called the nurses, and was told that the lady would have to wait until the morning. That is no good, as she has to inject the insulin regularly at 7am and 6pm daily. She has been a diabetic for 29 years and also has had heart problems and other illnesses. 

I was asked to carry out the injections, but I said I wasn’t a nurse and wasn’t qualified. In the end, a nurse came at 6.40pm once I had told them that if anything happened to her they would be responsible.

It is not the first time this has happened, as I  have had to phone them at least three or four times. The answer is always that they have nobody to send out. So, what happens if the lady doesn’t have the injections? She is 89, and frail with very bad eyesight.

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