Travelling with bottled oxygen
Discussion
We are taking my mum away later this month, her breathing as an 81 year old disabled person with COPD has deteriorated to the point she has been prescribed oxygen.
She gets this via a generator for home use and various bottles for when out and about, it’s a really fantastic service.
We’ve booked a holiday cottage and my first thoughts we would take all the kit with us, provided we inform our insurance company it’s ok to transport the kit as you require so all good.
However the supplying firm offer to delivery a temporary pack to the holiday destination so we took them up on this as it’s a great feature.
We’ve booked through an agent and in an attempt to get the delivery organised, have started communicating with the owner via the agent which is fine as the agent is protecting their income.
As the firm doing the delivery don’t work weekends, they have asked to drop Friday (we go in Saturday) and collect the Monday after our stay.
The owners of the accommodation have refused saying this will encroach on the other guests and sorry they can’t offer any alternative solutions to us, despite this really being a thing that’s keeping my mum alive.
I’m going to take our own domestic set up with us which was my first thought anyway, but did feel a bit like I was dismissed out of hand on something that’s not really an option for my mum, ie, her being able to breathe.
Has anyone had any experience of this kind of thing before, I’m not going to mention it to her as she’s already depressed at how limiting being on oxygen can be in terms of day to day life and is worried about becoming a burden on us, which I’m trying to avoid!
I’m going to contact the supplying company to see how flexible they are / maybe I can collect some kit from a local depot etc, but will still need to take ours now if there’s the slightest question we may be without when we get there (having to wait in for a delivery / collection for example for 2 holiday days out of the 7).
Any thoughts or angles on what else might be a solution from those with experience of this?
It’s my first time arranging it and I need it to be right for the reasons above….
She gets this via a generator for home use and various bottles for when out and about, it’s a really fantastic service.
We’ve booked a holiday cottage and my first thoughts we would take all the kit with us, provided we inform our insurance company it’s ok to transport the kit as you require so all good.
However the supplying firm offer to delivery a temporary pack to the holiday destination so we took them up on this as it’s a great feature.
We’ve booked through an agent and in an attempt to get the delivery organised, have started communicating with the owner via the agent which is fine as the agent is protecting their income.
As the firm doing the delivery don’t work weekends, they have asked to drop Friday (we go in Saturday) and collect the Monday after our stay.
The owners of the accommodation have refused saying this will encroach on the other guests and sorry they can’t offer any alternative solutions to us, despite this really being a thing that’s keeping my mum alive.
I’m going to take our own domestic set up with us which was my first thought anyway, but did feel a bit like I was dismissed out of hand on something that’s not really an option for my mum, ie, her being able to breathe.
Has anyone had any experience of this kind of thing before, I’m not going to mention it to her as she’s already depressed at how limiting being on oxygen can be in terms of day to day life and is worried about becoming a burden on us, which I’m trying to avoid!
I’m going to contact the supplying company to see how flexible they are / maybe I can collect some kit from a local depot etc, but will still need to take ours now if there’s the slightest question we may be without when we get there (having to wait in for a delivery / collection for example for 2 holiday days out of the 7).
Any thoughts or angles on what else might be a solution from those with experience of this?
It’s my first time arranging it and I need it to be right for the reasons above….
You are staying sat and sun but want a delivery on Fri and a collection on Mon? I'm not surprised they are refusing TBF. They are running holiday accom not a care home and you are asking them to inconvenience other guests or have the owners hang around for deliveries etc. Whilst the whole situation is new and stressful for you, they are not your family and you are asking them to go well beyond the normal.
I'd expect them to tell you to book the place for Friday and Monday if it were available.
Sorry about your mum.
I'd expect them to tell you to book the place for Friday and Monday if it were available.
Sorry about your mum.
Thanks for the responses, and for the thoughts for my mum, I do get the feeling this might be the last time we go away sadly.
For clarity we are staying for the full week and both NHS England and Scotland are well versed to support these requests, I realise I’ve seen these packs now in various places / hotels on my own travels now I need them myself and the process is much more common than you may think.
The issue here is that there is no way to get the medox on site as there isn’t a reception area etc. I wouldn’t wish to disrupt other guests myself so normally the NHS team work with the accommodation owners in the background to arrange holding facilities until the patient is on site in person. This particular cell don’t work weekends though so we’re looking for Monday / Friday drop offs which is where the issues started.
I’ve managed to create a solution though where the hotel / restaurant just down the road are more than happy to take a delivery on the Friday and for me to drop the empties back a week later. This is what struck me, we aren’t even staying there and they have gone out of their way so much to help me, I’ll stay there in future instead of where we have booked this time!
I’ve booked a couple of nice meals there also in return for my mums 81st birthday and will leave them a nice tip on this occasion.
So to the point above, I wouldn’t have wanted to disturb anyone else’s stay, I was just looking for help with the owners for something regards this disability as a newcomer.
We have a caravan we rent out ourselves on certain weeks of the year and as the owner of that, had I been approached for similar I would certainly have helped find a solution for the guests, I’d have taken the kit here at home if necessary.
As an aside, NHS Scotland say they only know of one other place that refuses to work with them on this service, and the hotel I’ve contacted (in the same village) could not have been more helpful to me in comparison, so maybe I’ve just been really unlucky!
My mum isn’t wheel chair bound (mobility is bad though) but while you can avoid if required anywhere that doesn’t have accessible facilities if absolutely necessary, breathing is non-negotiable, I’d have been snookered without this solution (or ended up having to carry a huge amount of kit with me to ensure continuity).
For clarity we are staying for the full week and both NHS England and Scotland are well versed to support these requests, I realise I’ve seen these packs now in various places / hotels on my own travels now I need them myself and the process is much more common than you may think.
The issue here is that there is no way to get the medox on site as there isn’t a reception area etc. I wouldn’t wish to disrupt other guests myself so normally the NHS team work with the accommodation owners in the background to arrange holding facilities until the patient is on site in person. This particular cell don’t work weekends though so we’re looking for Monday / Friday drop offs which is where the issues started.
I’ve managed to create a solution though where the hotel / restaurant just down the road are more than happy to take a delivery on the Friday and for me to drop the empties back a week later. This is what struck me, we aren’t even staying there and they have gone out of their way so much to help me, I’ll stay there in future instead of where we have booked this time!
I’ve booked a couple of nice meals there also in return for my mums 81st birthday and will leave them a nice tip on this occasion.
So to the point above, I wouldn’t have wanted to disturb anyone else’s stay, I was just looking for help with the owners for something regards this disability as a newcomer.
We have a caravan we rent out ourselves on certain weeks of the year and as the owner of that, had I been approached for similar I would certainly have helped find a solution for the guests, I’d have taken the kit here at home if necessary.
As an aside, NHS Scotland say they only know of one other place that refuses to work with them on this service, and the hotel I’ve contacted (in the same village) could not have been more helpful to me in comparison, so maybe I’ve just been really unlucky!
My mum isn’t wheel chair bound (mobility is bad though) but while you can avoid if required anywhere that doesn’t have accessible facilities if absolutely necessary, breathing is non-negotiable, I’d have been snookered without this solution (or ended up having to carry a huge amount of kit with me to ensure continuity).
Edited by 996Type on Monday 7th August 17:05
Edited by 996Type on Monday 7th August 17:06
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