My grandad was blue lighted to A&E twice in 8 days. The first time he was released within 12 hours, with low blood pressure and told to stop his low pressure tablets. Eight days later it was breathing problems and heart failure. He is 93 years old and saw 6 different doctors in 6 days, he was very confused and unclear on what was happening. I, as his next of kin, had great difficulty in getting a clear answer and it seemed that the doctors were not communicating. They appeared to be in a rush to get him discharged and shortened the expected date; I questioned this regarding his previous low BP issue, which couldn't be answered, he was kept in for another day. We discovered, from the cardiac nurse, that he'd had a heart attack; this had been diagnosed 2 days earlier but we hadn't been informed. Grandad had been complaining of diarrhoea for 4 days, and this hadn't been treated. He had an accident on his last night; he then received appropriate medication. The low BP issue was deemed secondary to the more critical heart failure and heart attack, but was being addressed in the medication provided. It was also mentioned that the previous decision to stop the lowering BP medication could have exacerbated the following heart problems. The primary care liaison and hospital avoidance team (terrible name) were excellent in addressing our concerns on what would happen when grandad got home. If they deliver it will be a good outcome in a bad situation. HRI gave the impression that their main objective was to free the bed in the shortest possible time. Too little consideration was given to communicating with the patient or addressing concerns in a very stressful situation. There was no one person who took a holistic view of a complex medical situation, for a patient who was confused and needed a high level of empathy.
"grandad heart problems"
About: Huddersfield Royal Infirmary Huddersfield Royal Infirmary Huddersfield HD3 3EA
Posted via nhs.uk
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