THE devoted partner of a man moved miles away from home due to a shortfall in local dementia care is to take his story directly to health commissioners.
Michael Beer, from Dalton, returned to Furness for his final days after spending six months in a nursing home near Blackpool because there were no places for him in south Cumbria.
The 69-year-old former Mencap worker died at St Mary's Hospice, in Ulverston, on Saturday where he had received care for the past fortnight.
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His repatriation to Cumbria came all too late for Mr Beer's partner Kath Cullen, however, who had been forced to make the gruelling 140-mile round trip to see him at the Alexandra Care Home, in Poulton-le-Fylde, on a daily basis since March.
Ms Cullen now hopes to meet with health bosses in a bid to explain the toll of Mr Beer's out-of-county placement from a patient's perspective.
It resulted in him missing vital cancer checks and dental appointments because he was no longer resident in Cumbria - with Ms Cullen even having to take him by taxi to the Blackpool Victoria Hospital's accident and emergency department on one occasion.
Last month, Mr Beer was admitted to the hospital when he became seriously ill, with Ms Cullen making the two-hour road journey from the couple's Lancaster Street home every day to be by his side.
She said: "These weren't the circumstances under which I wanted him repatriated home but he received truly excellent care from all the staff at the hospice."
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Ms Cullen paid tribute to her partner, a keen fell walker, wildlife enthusiast and Rugby League fan who was known to his friends as Mick.
With help from staff at The Blackpool Victoria Hospital and Barrow Borough Council's health and wellbeing spokesman Michael Cassells, she arranged for him to be moved to St Mary's Hospice, in Ulverston, on September 8.
Ms Cullen added she hopes health bosses will now learn from Mr Beer's case to ensure no-one else goes through a forced separation to access nursing care.
"I'm hopefully going to speak to the NHS commissioners to talk about Michael being placed so far away.
"I just hope something positive comes out of it and no-one else has to go through anything similar."
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