"Poor basic care & no communication!"

My elderly dad had a stroke in November 2016 and whilst being cared for on the stroke unit he was treated relatively well, until the stroke unit was being closed/moved due to a deep clean. My dad was sent to Clacton hospital for rehabilitation but in reality was nowhere near ready for as he's was having extreme problems with his catheter and suffering blockages, blood clots and infectons, unfortunately Clacton were unable to deal with a patient who clearly still needed medical care and not just rehabilitation, this resulted in two emergency trips to Colchester in 5 days by the second trip he was then again admitted to Colchester with pneumonia. After a short stay in the EAU he was moved to Nayland then Birch ward and this is where his basic care needs where neglected, these wards are extremely under staffed and myself and other family members witnessed countless short comings not just for my dad but all of the patients on this ward, some of the things we saw I will save for my official letter of complaint, food was left at the end of beds where patients couldn't reach even if they did want to eat the unappetising meals offered, water jugs empty and again out of reach, no cups to drink from, patients buzzers being left on wall sockets and not with the patient, personal hygiene was practically nonexistent, every day dads toothbrush was bone dry, and left in gowns with spillage stains on them, he was only got out of bed on one occasion in the 4 weeks he spent on this ward but when he was on the stroke unit they washed,dressed and got him out of bed everyday, unfortunately because my dad was re-admitted with pneumonia he completely fell off the stroke pathway radar and this is where departments do not communicate with each other on a practical level. A care plan has been put together for dads return however this was also a catalog of errors with a need to chase up care providers name and contact details and transport home being inadequately arranged so another night spent on this ward is required due to being told that the first crew that came wouldn't be able to get the stretcher up the doorstep, next crew were more willing to try but had a trolley that might not be able make the turns nessecary in his home and would ultimately mean a night being spent in A&E until the correct transport could be arranged the next day! So all in all after being in hospital for the last 8 weeks and a failed attempt to get home I'm not entirely convinced that my dad is well enough to come home but this is preferable to spending anymore time in Colchester's care.