An elderly man has been stuck in hospital for three months after a fall because of a lack of places at rehabilitation facilities. 

Gillian O’Gorman’s father, Frank, is 83-years-old and had a fall on October 23rd last year. 

He broke his hip and was taken to hospital for urgent treatment. 

“Sadly to say, 13 weeks later, he’s still in University Hospital Limerick,” Gillian told Lunchtime Live. 

“We are trying desperately to get my Dad into a rehab facility to help him with physical and cognitive rehabilitation,” she said. 

“What we’ve gone through has been a nightmare, to be honest. 

“We really had to escalate things this week to try to advocate for my father to get the care that he needs to get him home in the future.” 

Frank and Gillian. Image: Supplied.

Frank needs a spot on a rehabilitation programme but finding him one has proved far more difficult than his family ever thought possible. 

“What would normally happen is when somebody falls and breaks their hip or has a hip replacement, the 24 to 48 hours after the surgery to get the patient out and moving,” Gillian said. 

“Unfortunately, because of medication and the trauma of the fall, my Dad went into a delirium. 

“When an older person goes into a delirium, there can be various reasons and we didn’t really know what was causing this. 

“We were told that a scan showed that my Dad had had a minor stroke at some stage in the weeks or months leading up to the fall that could impact this delirium as well.” 

Frank. Image: Supplied. 

Frank’s delirium lasted for eight weeks but he has been “much more lucid” recently. 

Although he still has some cognitive issues, he is now keen to get out of hospital as quickly as possible 

“[There’s the] complexity of this and the lack of, I would say, interdisciplinary collaboration,” Gillian said. 

“It wasn’t just the orthopaedic team, we needed someone from the geriatric team to put together an integrated care plan for my Dad. 

“We were just being passed from pillar to post and the communication wasn’t being followed through.” 

Last night, the family was informed that a place for Frank has been found on a rehabilitation centre in Nenagh. 

Although final confirmation of the move is still pending, Gillian said things are "definitely moving in the right direction". 

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Main image: Frank. Image: Supplied.