Following on from my previous post...
My elderly relative was discharged from AAU.
On the evening of her discharge, she was found to be in a chair, unable to walk unassisted, had continued to suffer from incontinence, complained about lower pelvic pain and was refusing food.
An out of hours Doctor attended, following discussion with NHS24. Upon checking my relative and review of the discharge letter; stated that this had been a 'failed discharge' and that they were requesting an ambulance to take her back to Monklands Hospital.
She passed via the emergency department and stayed in AAU......Third admission within 48 hours
Within AAU the next afternoon/evening a nurse advised her family that it was a simple UTI and then advised them that she was being discharged.
The family stated that they wished to she her walking before she could go home. They were advised that it was a simple UTI, that she was being discharged and how were they taking her home.
The family stated to the Nurse that she would have to arrange this and proceeded to walk out of AAU (upset, but quite rightly frustrated of the treatment and lack of person centred / patient care attitude toward their mother)
The nurse then proceed to run after them with the discharge letter and asked them to wait.
After a short while, they were advised that my relative was being moved to a 'care of the elderly' ward and that she was being admitted for further tests.
I presume that either the Charge Nurse or FY1 could see that after 3 failed discharges that there is an underlying issue; UTI leading to incontinence, not eating and drinking for fear of not being able to walk to her toilet, constant falling due to blood pressure? Surely she should have been tested for this on her initial admission? Simple tests and diagnostics?
I believe that she is receiving physio, but is still unable to walk herself or unaided, even with a frame.
This time it appears that there is some communication between Secondary and Primary Care, with the involvement of Social Services to assess her needs and requirements prior to discharge.
Whilst I appreciate bed capacity issues may have been the reason for previous discharges. The result has been two additional admissions, out of hours Doctor time, Ambulance time, Acute staffing time.......both money and time wasted !
As I stated previously; where is the patient centred care approach and the NHS 20:20 Vision in this instance? Is this how Monklands routinely process dementia related patients?
"Discharge with integrated Care Support - Part 2"
About: North Lanarkshire Council North Lanarkshire Council Motherwell ML1 1TW University Hospital Monklands University Hospital Monklands Airdrie ML6 0JS University Hospital Monklands / Care of the Elderly (Wards 14,20,22) University Hospital Monklands Care of the Elderly (Wards 14,20,22) ML6 0JS
Posted by Big Toe (as ),
Responses
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Update posted by Big Toe (a relative) 6 years ago
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