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Care Opinion

Death of a loved one

Posted By Jimej75

"Death of a loved one"

About: Altnagelvin Area Hospital / Cardiology Emergency department / Unscheduled Care

(as a carer),

In Dec my partner visited A&E with breathing difficulties. After hours of oxygen therapy it was discovered she had fluid in the lungs. 3 consultants of different departments were happy to discharge her.

24 hrs later we needed to call 999 and she was fighting for her life. During her time in resuscitation I was asked 4 times to sign a DNR order despite me making it clear it was against her wishes. After waiting for 12hrs outside resuscitation not a single Dr or consultant came and explained what was happening. I received a phone call later that night from a consultant to apologise and again, was asked if we were signing a DNR. I now considered this harassment.

Later that night she was moved into the cardiology ward as she had a current heart condition. As she slowly recovered she was getting ready to be discharged in a few days. The cardiology consultant confirmed they would not operate on her, to fix valves, as she probably wouldn't survive. A day or so later they had decided, for some unknown reason, to perform a dye test to check her blood flow. On recovery of this test the blood vessel ruptured, causing internal bleeding and her blood pressure to crash.

It was never explained to us why they performed such a test or how/why did the blood vessel rupture. After days of fighting the blood pressure drop via fluids and oxygen therapy, she never recovered correctly. As she fought her life I was asked again, by 3 different people, about ordering an DNR. I was also told by a consultant the decision would be taken off my hands. Within a week she was dead and no attempt to resuscitate was taken as that decision was removed from the family.

This is a very short version of our experience but we did witness inadequate health care and absolute dire communication. The hospital has never attempted to contact us to explain the event and all we have is her death certificate to show how she died.

I'm appalled at what I feel is the harassment of the DNR.


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Responses

Response from Michelle Scott, Patient Client Experience Lead, Primary Care and Older Person, Western Health and Social Care Trust last month
Michelle Scott
Patient Client Experience Lead, Primary Care and Older Person,
Western Health and Social Care Trust

I am the gatekeeper of Care Opinion and 10,000 voices quality improvement initiative for the Western Health and Social Care Trust

Submitted on 25/03/2024 at 17:57
Published on Care Opinion on 26/03/2024 at 09:46

picture of Michelle Scott

Hello Jimej75,

M name is Michelle and I am the Patient Client Experience Lead for the Trust. thank you for taking the time to leave your experience with us. I am sorry to hear of your experience and I am very sorry for your loss. I have liaised with the cardiology dept. and Emergency department for response who had the following responses. I hope you may find them helpful.

"Hello my name is Trudy and I am the Service Manager for Cardiology.

I want to first thank you for leaving your story and for giving me the opportunity to provide a response. I want to also pass on my condolences to you and the wider family for your great loss. A regional website for grief and loss has been launched which you may find of use Bereaved | Bereaved (hscni.net)

As the Care opinion platform allows for anonymous feedback it is very difficult to ascertain the precise details for this case. I would like to review this serious matter further and I would appreciate if you would contact the trusts Complaints department to lodge a complaint with full details to allow a full investigation.

Details on the attached flyer for more information or for Independent review you can contact patient client council who can advise also enclosed in the attached leaflet as well.

In relation to the DNACPR, this is a decision made by clinicians. It is good practice to discuss the decision with the patient and their family, however the decision ultimately lies with the clinician in charge of their care.

Our intention is not to make people feel harassed and I am sorry if this was your experience.

Kind regards

Trudy"

Emergency department

"Hello Jimej75,

My name is Karima and I am one of the Senior Sisters in The Emergency Department Altnagelvin.

Firstly I would like to offer my sincere condolences to you and your family on the loss of your partner. I can appreciate that this was quite a traumatic time for you and I would like the opportunity to look into this in more detail.

As care opinion is an anonymous public forum, I am unable to clarify any detail around the circumstances that you have mentioned.

When a DNACPR decision is being made, the team involved do discuss the decisions with family. However, the consultant in charge of the individuals persons care will make the ultimate decision in all cases taking important factors into consideration.

I want to apologise for the way these discussions took place, and the fact that you mention you felt you were being harassed was no ones intention.

I appreciate the time you have taken to provide us with the feedback that you have submitted. I would like to offer a full investigation into your concerns, but to do so, I would advise that you contact the Complaints Department in the Western Trust to allow us the opportunity to look at your partners attendance in more detail and investigate the concerns which you have expressed.

kind regards

Karima"

I also encourage you to get in touch to look into this. We take feedback very seriously and will investigate. If you would like to speak with me directly in the first instance please feel free to contact me on Michelle Scott: 07833402847

kind regards

Michelle Scott
Patient Client Experience Lead
Ext 214486 (02871345171)
Mobile: 07833402847

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