Couple's woe as care ends

Mary and Leonard Moore from Forest Town have been told they can no longer have their regular home carer.

Mary Moore, aged 74, and her 90-year-old husband Leonard, of Robey Close, Forest Town, say they do not know what to do after visits by their “helpful” community matron were stopped –as the matron had been attending for too long.

Mary said: “The matron had become a friend, she was with us two years.

“We were told she had been with us too long. We do not know what we would do without her.”

The matron is part of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s adult community services integrated care team.

The team works to support a patient’s recovery, stabilise their symptoms and help them manage their own conditions – they are usually with patients for eight to 12 weeks.

Mary who has several medical conditions and has had two strokes has said her matron saved her life, after she started having chest pains which revealed she had a heart condition.

The mother-of-two said: “I had chest pains and after telling her I was in hospital within the next 10 minutes – I think she saved my life that night.”

Mary said struggles to stand for long periods of times and relies on family to go out as she is afraid of falling.

She said:“Over the years she has written prescriptions for us and taken my husband’s blood at home when the doctor wanted him to go to the hospital to take it and we did not know how we would get down.

“We struggle to get out and she could treat us at home I am now constantly going to be thinking who am I going to ask to take me.

“I am frightened to go anywhere and walk because I do not know if I am going to fall.

“I am just a little person, a cog on a wheel, who feels strongly about this issue.

“Leonard and I are not the only ones affected – there must be hundreds of people wondering about what will happen to them .”

A trust spokeswoman said: “Due to patient confidentiality, we aren’t able to comment on individual patients.

“However, I can tell you that patients are discharged from the community matron service when they are deemed to be medically fit and the service offered is no longer appropriate for the individual.

“If a patient becomes unwell again and needs support from a community matron, they will be re-referred by their GP or following a discharge from hospital.”