HAVING been a staff nurse in a care home, I was interested to read your report regarding lack of palliative care for those with dementia ("Care warning over sufferers from dementia", The Herald, February 3).

This problem is compounded if those with dementia have other end-of-life conditions such as cancer but are still treated in care homes, when it is hospice care they need.

I can think of instances where those whose pain and distress worsened, especially on a Sunday or public holiday who had to wait some time for, first of all a GP visit, then a wait to find someone with a car in the home who could go to an on-call pharmacy, which could be some miles away, and then bring the necessary medication back. And if the patient further needed more medication later that day the whole scenario was repeated. Add to that that the resident with dementia, is trying to get out of bed in their distress, necessitating one-to-one care. This means that the rest of the residents are compromised in their care due to the unavailability of the one-to-one carer and the person who has had to go to the pharmacy and it begins to be a disastrous situation.

Far from diminishing the number of trained staff nurses in care homes and giving senior carers more responsibility, care homes need staff nurses trained and able to prescribe to give the best possible care.

I have never heard anyone say that the care their relative received in a hospice was anything other than wonderful. But sadly while there are many excellent care homes, we know that the same cannot be said in the satisfaction of care given in all of them, due to the situations I described above.

Irene Munro,

1 Wyvis Crescent, Conon Bridge.

THE experiences recounted by Professor June Andrews article ("Eminent dementia expert on dangers of going to hospital", The Herald, February 2) makes me ashamed to admit I am a retired nurse. That an acute hospital is no place for dementia sufferers has been known for many years, but the examples she gives in the article are nothing more than sloppy nursing care that would not happen if there were enough trained staff on each ward.

What happened to the nurse in charge walking round the ward to see each patient and seeing what needed to be done?

M Hamilton,

Standrigg Road, Wallacestone, Falkirk.