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Care Opinion

Quality of Nursing Care

Posted By Iscot

"Quality of Nursing Care"

About: Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Glasgow

(as a carer),

My brother has been ill over a period of 4 months and has had a total of 5 admissions over that period of time. The nature of his illness means that he has experienced difficulty in eating and drinking, and consequently, he has lost weight and continues to lose weight. The Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool places him in a High Risk category. I was distressed to find that given the risk of malnutrition my brother's food intake had not been recorded for two days. Furthermore, given the importance of maintaining hydration, he did not have an appropriate cup by his bedside with water. If this was not concerning enough there was also medication on his bedside locker which had not been administered.

Clearly this level of care does not meet my brother's needs, and this is in itself distressing. I want to be able to take him home, but I know that he is not yet well enough to go home, If he remains in hospital, will his condition deteriorate as a result of a lack of appropriate care? What surprises me the most is that the lack of proper record keeping can go unnoticed for two days. It makes me reflect on the circumstances that give rise to lapses in care.

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Responses

Response from Lorna Fairlie, Patient Experience, Public Involvement Project Manager, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 7 years ago
Lorna Fairlie
Patient Experience, Public Involvement Project Manager,
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

I work in a small team in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde which seeks to involve patients and carers in the work of the NHS. The biggest part of my role is in managing feedback projects across the Board area, one of which is Patient Opinion. It is my job to give our patients and carers the opportunity to give us feedback, and to make sure that this is passed to the right people to help us improve the services we provide.

Submitted on 16/09/2016 at 14:13
Published on Care Opinion at 15:37

Dear Iscot,

You have raised a number of issues here which give me some cause for concern and I think it is important that we look into this for you, particularly as your brother is still in hospital. If we can resolve or address the issues that you have raised here, this will hopefully give you more confidence in the care your brother is getting while he is in hospital.

We would always encourage patients, carers or family members to raise any issues they have at the time with the nurse in charge of the ward - this gives the staff on the ward the opportunity to make changes right away and to improve on any of the concerns that you might have. I would encourage you to do this if you can, especially as your brother is still in our care.

If you do not feel comfortable raising this directly with the nursing staff on the ward, it would be really helpful if you could get in touch with me with more information about the specific ward that your brother is staying in, and some of his personal information. I can then talk to the service about your concerns and how they can be addressed as soon as possible. My email address is lorna.gray@ggc.scot.nhs.uk.

I hope that whichever way you decide to proceed, that you see changes quickly, and that this in turn gives you more confidence in the care your brother is receiving.

Best Wishes,

Lorna

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Update posted by Iscot (a carer)

I took up the offer of communicating directly with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and emailed them on the 19th September. I still waiting for a response. Sadly, since my first posting my brother's condition has deteriorated and he was admitted to to a High Dependency Unit in the early hours of last Monday morning. His condition at this time was critical. He has survived this crisis, but there are still major challenges ahead.

While I remain concerned about the systems and processes within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, I would like to acknowledge the high levels of professionalism and care in the nursing team within the medical high dependency unit.

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