"Please listen to the relatives "

My Dad went into Whiston hospital on a thursday night, he was ill but not too bad. He was placed on 5a over the weekend and he was given antibiotics and responded well. He was getting close to full fitness (for him) but on the Saturday night the week after he went in he started to say some strange things. This to the people who knew him was a red flag, we all knew he was in the early stages of infection.

On the Sunday we were called in by staff asking if someone could come in and calm my Dad down as he was very agitate, we took it in turns to sit with him over a 12 hour period and we only saw a student nurse come in on 3 occasions, each time we pleaded with them to find someone who could start him on antibiotics or do something knowing it was going to only get worse. It had been over a week since he had gone in and every time we asked if it was possible to see a Dr, each time we were told that the Dr's were very busy and couldn't come to see us.

Monday and Tuesday had gone by and my Dad still hadn't been started on any medication, we got told on Tuesday that he had a fall the night before, he was hallucinating and was really confused. Anyone who knew my Dad knows that when he is well he's sharp as a tack but with him being put on 5a which is a ward for the elderly I got the feeling the staff just saw him as a confused old man. I went to see the PALS team on the Wednesday in the hope that they could put me in touch with a Dr and they said they would get me an appointment for the Thursday afternoon.

As I got to the hospital at 3pm a Dr was waiting at my Dads door to talk to me, they sat me down and told me he had a seizure in the morning and they had managed to get him stable, he told me that he had an infection and they had started him on antibiotics that afternoon, my Dad died at 4. 30 that afternoon...

I should point out my Dad had many health problems and had he beaten this infection the next one may of beaten him. All I wish is that he had been given a fighting chance!