ESCAPE FROM 'ALCATRAZ' (MEADOWBROOK)...

Great news, Crivvie chums!  My mother is now ensconced within another Care Home (above), which has a 9.8 rating and akin to a luxury 5-star hotel, unlike the seedy bed & breakfast hovel she was in.  Thanks to Social Worker Estelle, who did more in a week to get my mother moved than her predecessor did in around two-and-a-half years (or more) of ignoring and impeding my attempts to move her to a better place.  It'll cost me a fortune in taxi fares to visit, but it's worth it knowing my mother will be properly looked after for whatever time she has remaining.

As regular readers know, I was banned from visiting my mother under false and malicious pretexts and hadn't seen her since July.  In that time she has deteriorated greatly and lost a lot of weight, and doesn't seem so responsive as she once was (for a person with Alzheimer's and cancer).  The Social Worker was told my mother's hearing aids were broken, though she had new ones fitted only a few months back, and she was left totally deaf and unable to communicate with the Social Worker, who had to write wee notes to elicit any kind of response.

Also, her fingernails clearly hadn't been cut for weeks, if not longer, and she's obviously been neglected and left in her own wee world, isolated from any caring contact.  She didn't appear to recognise me and I never heard a single word from her* in the time I spent with her today, though I'm told she gave her name in response to being asked (in writing) by the staff at her new 'home'.  Now my mother is out of Meadowbrook's clutches (some staff were okay, but few of them were as conscientious as they should've been) I can relax as some of the pressure is off me.

(*Apart from when she spoke in her sleep as she dozed in an armchair, where she softly muttered "Let go, let go, you'll break it, you'll break it!"  Worryingly, she had bruises on both legs below where her leggings stop above her ankles, one of them pretty damn big.)

When we went to collect my mother, Estelle told me management had said I wasn't allowed to take my 'phone in with me, nor speak to the staff - I had no intention of talking to them anyway.  Must've been worried I'd take more photos, though my mobile doesn't have a camera, as I have an actual camera for that purpose.  My mission was to get my mother moved as quickly as possible and shake the dust off my feet.  They seemed more interested in imposing ludicrous restrictions on me so they could fool themselves into believing they were in charge and called the shots.

Think I'll celebrate with a fish supper tonight.  However, don't think I've given up on my mission to expose Meadowbrook for what they are, as there's plenty more I can tell you - and will!