MS victim put to bed 'like a baby' for 14 hours a day due to lack of carers

Published on Monday 15 March 2010 22:10

A DISABLED woman yesterday claimed she was being "treated like a baby" and forced to spend more than half her life in bed because of changes in her carers' working hours.

Fiona Blackwell, 42, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, is now having to spend almost 14 hours every night in her bed at her home.

She claims to have developed bed sores and other skin complaints as a direct result of the changes in her care implemented by the cash-strapped Aberdeen City Council.

"It's having a devastating effect on my life," she said.

"I have lived with MS for 22 years because I was diagnosed when I was 20. And I dealt with it quite well. But this I am not dealing with.

"I am 42 years old – and I class myself as a young 42 – but they have taken away my life."

Ms Blackwell, from Aberdeen, said the dramatic changes in her care came into effect after she returned home from hospital just before Christmas, following an operation to remove a blood clot.

Before she went into hospital, carers had been helping her to prepare for bed at 9:30pm, before returning the next day at 9am. Now she is being put to bed at 7:30pm.

She said: "Once I'm in bed I cannot move at all. I just have to lie there for hours until the carers arrive in the morning. I'm being treated like a baby.

"It is killing my back lying in my bed, and I wake up during the night because I get so sore and uncomfortable."

Ms Blackwell, who has been confined to a wheelchair for the past four years, said her condition had deteriorated rapidly since Christmas, and that she was suffering badly from bed sores and other skin problems.

"My heels have broken out in sores and I have to wear special padded boots in my bed because I am lying in bed for so long," she said: "It's horrendous.

"I pay for my care and I was told that I was very fortunate to be getting night-settling at all. Now I don't think anyone who has to get night-settling is lucky – it's those who don't need it that are lucky."

Ms Blackwell added: "It's a totally unacceptable situation. And I fear there must be other people out there who are also having to spend more than half their lives in bed because carers aren't available.

"My care manager originally told me the changes were only going to last for a couple of weeks.

"Now I have been told that as soon as a later slot comes up, they will offer it to me.

"So basically I need someone to go into hospital for a length of time or – and this sounds horrid – I need somebody to die."

Her treatment has also been condemned by her local MP Anne Begg, who is also disabled.

Ms Begg, the Labour MP for Aberdeen South, said: "For someone who is such a young person, to have to go to bed at half past seven, it is awful. I was quite horrified to think that someone who is 12 years younger than me is being put to bed like a baby.

"I am watching her deteriorate. It just seems really cruel."

A spokesman for Aberdeen City Council said: "We have provided care at the times that we have staff available.

"We are, however, well aware of the situation and are continuing to try to arrange a later night- settling visit.

"The level of care provided to social work clients is based on the assessed level of need."