Sassy - you're right, Reynolds is a hero to that woman. But I wish I shared your conviction that the hospital is a better place for her. In my experience hospitals fail our old people as much as care homes do - beds on geriatric wards are scarce, older patients are often shunted around side wards, and even trained nurses have very little understanding of dementia, stroke and other conditions. My grandfather had Alzheimer's and when he was admitted to hospital for an acute condition, it took around a week for the nurses to mention to us that he had been 'refusing' his medication. So for an entire week, he had been in hospital and yet was recieving no treatment at all. In the end we took to feeding him (the staff didn't have the time) and administering his medication (they didn't have the patience). We wondered what he was getting out of hospital at all. Probably a superbug. So we have hospitals that are happy to let illness go untreated, and care homes that no longer care. I'm at least a little heartened that there seem to be many people here that are appalled by this situation. Can I ask that people think a little about what they can do to change this? Charities for older people are always unfashionable - perhaps we don't want to admit that we may have to rely on them one day. If we're unlucky, we get cancer. If we're lucky, we get old. Help the Aged, Age Concern and the Alzheimer's Society could do with a bit of support.