"Discharged and cut loose in a dangerous way"

This is a review of our discharge experience only.

My 86 year old dad was admitted via A&E with 2 blood clots on his lung. After 4 day stay he was discharged at 10.00 AM, pending delivery of his medication. Several times during the day I requested an update of the status and was told that we still waited for the medication. At 7.00Pm dad was becoming distressed and I asked if would be ok if my brother took him home and I waited for the drugs. I was told that was fine (why couldn't we have been told that hours earlier). I finally received the drugs at 7.50 and was told that dad should be given Warfarin as directed in the paperwork.

When I got home we found paperwork in the bag but it was far from clear what dad should receive. Fortunately my husband and brother both have experience of taking Warfarin and were able to decipher the dose dad should have that night. The following day I consulted his GP who told me he was still under the hospital and the doctor was not able to help. It was clear that dad needed a blood test to determine his INR (although the hospital hadn't explained the process).

We managed to work out the dose for the second night but that was the end of the information we had. On the third day we contacted the GP who still had no information from the hospital and could not help, but the doctor gave us the phone number of the anticoagulation clinic. Unfortunately this closed at 3.30 and we were adrift with no information. Our best guess was to give dad the same dose as the night before. I believe Warfarin to be a dangerous drug when given inappropriately and this is what we were forced to do. Surely when we left the hospital all of the processes should have been in place and we should have understood them? Today we have managed to speak to the anticoagulation clinic and it appears that dad fell into some sort of black hole. This has distressed my dad very badly, and since he suffers from dementia it has been worse. He became convinced he was going to die. I am absolutely furious. We waited for almost 10 hours from discharge to actually leaving and it is still a shambles. My only hope is that this is resolved quickly as the thought of dad being readmitted as an emergency fills me with horror. All concerned I thks shambolic process should be ashamed.