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My husbands stay

Posted By Twink

"My husbands stay"

About: Perth Royal Infirmary / General Medicine

(as a relative),

He was admitted to Ward 3 with pneumonia but was also suffering a spontatious fracture of a vertebrae. He has vascular dementia, macular degeneration in both eyes and wears two hearing aids.

The buzzer was unanswered after 20 minutes and I ended up finding a bed bottle for him the full bottle sat on his over bed table for over an hour until lunch was served and I asked that it be removed before he ate!

Later the same day he sat for 27minutes on the loo with no response from the buzzer. It took four people to find one that would get him back to bed. He has a very bad heart but no high seat was provided in the toilet. The designated nurse locked his Nicorette gum and hearing aid batteries up. I was told that he should be off the gum!

The buzzer seems to a background noise to the copious notes that are written but never read. There is a patient at the end of that noise but no one seems to care. One nurse yanked his sleeve up with such force that she dislodged the cannular in his arm and another had to be inserted in the other arm

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Responses

Response from Caroline Hiscox, Associate Nurse Director, NHS Tayside 9 years ago
Caroline Hiscox
Associate Nurse Director,
NHS Tayside

Submitted on 27/04/2015 at 09:24
Published on Care Opinion at 13:54

picture of Caroline Hiscox

Dear Twink,

Thank you for taking the time to highlight the concerns you have about the care of your relative in Ward 3 Perth Royal Infirmary through Patient Opinion. Please allow me to take this opportunity to extend my apologies to your relative and his family for the issues you have outlined in your post. I am sorry that your relative was unwell and hope that his pneumonia is now resolved. The issues you have raised really concern me and I will speak with the Senior Charge Nurse today to understand what support is required for the team to ensure that others do not have the same poor experience. I know that acute illness that requires admission to hospital is a daunting prospect for all patients and their families. With an additional diagnosis of dementia and impaired vision and hearing it must have been particularly distressing for you and your relative. The care that we aim to provide is safe, effective and person centred and this experience does not reflect this. Please be assured that I will address the issues you have raised with the team.

Kind regards

Caroline McQuillian, Associate Nurse Director.

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Update posted by Twink (a relative)

Thank you for your response to my story. Unfortunately the whole episode has had serious consequences for my husband. He is at home and suffering great pain with his back fracture but refuses to go into ANY hospital, ever, again.

Despite the doctors doing everything for him, it was only last night that the balance of medication gave him a pain free night. We are extremely fortunate to be able to afford a modicum of private care at home. We have used these carers for respite for 4 years but at the moment they are here 24/7.

If only the nurses could see how to really care for a patient instead of being so highly read and struggling to reach targets and tick boxes to satisfy some office-bound administrator, hospital care would be much improved. I would be very interested in the outcome of your investigations and look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Response from Caroline Hiscox, Associate Nurse Director, NHS Tayside 9 years ago
Caroline Hiscox
Associate Nurse Director,
NHS Tayside

Submitted on 28/04/2015 at 11:13
Published on Care Opinion at 11:49

picture of Caroline Hiscox

Dear Twink,

I am sorry that your husband has had to endure ongoing pain but pleased that he had a pain free night. I spoke with the SCN who was also concerned about the issues you identified and she will share your experience with the team.

Kind regards

Caroline

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