Thread by @JohnnyVedmore

I’ve seen the saddest thing.

An elderly couple, both with dementia, forced to look after each other. The police can’t do anything & they won’t be accepted in a hospital because they’re not catatonic. So they’re just left to wander about.

The UK is a disgusting place 🇬🇧🤮

The pair are ex-pats who normally live in Benidorm - where I assume they have a better support network & friends to help. They turned up to the hotel on Thursday and checked in normally. They’d been before but we hadn’t noticed anything the previous times.

The first sign of issues was that the two of them kept forgetting where they were staying. They were found wandering around the floors of the Cardiff Village hotel, which wasn’t where they were staying. The lady wet herself on multiple occasions & was found standing in the road.

They only had cash because they couldn’t remember PIN numbers and they had no means of contacting anyone. No phone. Just ID and cash. Which they almost lost when the wife was entrusted with it. Later found on a seat by the reception. They obviously could be taken advantage of.

The police were called when it was clear that they weren’t able to look after each other very well. They arrived after about an hour. Two genial officers with a laptop. They talked to the couple for 45 minutes before deciding that there was nothing they could do.

I spoke with the police for a while. They said that they couldn’t do anything - except arrest them if they blocked traffic again - and that an ambulance wouldn’t take them because they’re not catatonic. The police tried contacting family, but were unsuccessful. The police left.

There is no service for people in this situation. These guys are just left to wander around asking people if they can help them. The lady is so kind and completely lovable. The man is just as beautiful a person. Even with the dementia their wonderful natures shine through.

I still can’t sleep and it’s 7am. I just have their faces present in every thought. Who are we as a society and as humans if we can’t see this is blatantly wrong? These people have worked all their lives only to be left to rot in retirement.

We need a National Care Service!

The poor worried daughter of the pair came to take them to her house. Where they promptly escaped. The daughter has been on the phone all morning trying to get social services to stop them returning to Benidorm. She said it was a battle to even get in touch with anyone.

Eventually the daughter was promised that a GP would be with her in 20 mins to assess them. Then, for some reason, they closed the case and now she has to go through the whole process again before a GP will come out. It shouldn’t be an uphill struggle to protect the vulnerable.

I must point out a real hero in this sad story. @beigenagra works next door & really helped this couple. He was the 1st person to notice how vulnerable the pair were & raise the alarm.

As we wait for the GP, I feel like its people like @beigenagra who make this country great 👍

So the GP came. Assessed their capabilities on a scale of 1-10. The lady scored a zero and the man scored 2.5, and the GP still tried to avoid doing anything. He watched them walk off down the street making an escape. Said he’ll have to get the police to chase them down.

The GP was completely bereft of any empathy, sympathy and barely showed any care. He said he never had to deal with a situation like this, but I didn’t believe a single word he said. He phoned a mental health team & legged it. I don’t believe this isn’t a reoccurring issue.

What a long day! They returned & so I called the daughter and the police as instructed & again the police were initially resistant to helping. It was like they refuse to recognise someone’s vulnerability. We didn’t let the police leave until the mental health team arrived.

The daughter had spent the whole day on the phone to authorities. It was sad to see the lack urgency.

They said the problem was that a couple both suffering from dementia was an issue they hadn’t come across before.

The real problem is the fact our society is sick & broken.