"Shame on you Lincoln Hospital. Disgusting on all..."

What could be improved

Patients with a diagnosis of alzhiemers/chronic memory loss treated with more dignity and respect, by all members of staff.

Elderly patients respected and treated with dignity.

Family members of said patient to be treated with respect and spoken to in a manner that the member of staff would expect to be spoken to in their situation.

Patients threatening to end their own lives be taken seriously and not treated as a throw away comment.

When patients are not hiding their tablets in their bags, stock pilling tablets after making threats, to either be A-Watched taking the tablets if willing to take them, or if B-Not given their tablets and a Dr notified that the patient is refusing to take them.

Chronic conditions investigated throughly and in an appropriate manner in an appropriate time.

I was disgusted to have a terrified phone call from my Mother about the treatment of herself and my elderly Grandmother recently on Greetwell ward at Lincoln County Hospital.

Being a Dr at another busy hospital, there are certain standards of care that are expected from all members of staff at all NHS hospitals, and it was very apparent that this has not been the case during a recent stay for my ill elderly Grandmother.

An 86 year old lady with dementia of some kind, (which has still to be determined, after investigations for many years, another ongoing issue with Lincoln County,) was admitted with sepsis from a UTI, which took a week to diagnose (a simple enough test which should be performed routinely in a case like this!) and chronic diarrhea, was left in a bed and ignored when pressing the bell for help to get to the comode.

Unsuprisingly she messed her bed and was left to sit in the mess untill my mother arrived. When pointing out the bed needed changing and helping to clean my Grandmother up, snidy comments were made by the staff. Surely this is unacceptable an all accounts. This messing of the bed did not happen on one occasion but several!

Anything else?

My Grandmother was also refusing to take her medications, after making a threat to save them and kill herself, something which was not reported to my Mother. In a state of fury from my very confused and upset Grandmother one evening, she told my Mother what she had planned and when she reported it to nursing staff they said she had been making all sorts of threats, none of which had been reported to the family/my mother on any other visits. I would expect to have been informed as a Dr that this threat had been made by a patient, the family should have been consulted and an appropriate action plan put into place immediately. It surely should have also been made impossible for her to collect a weeks worth of tablets in her handbag during her stay following making this threat. Again unforgivable, nurses, like Drs are members of professional bodies and responsible for their own actions, I would like to know what an inquest into a patients death on a ward after threatening and being able to stock pile tablets, would say.

Another thing, on a vistit to the ward my Mother found my Grandmother very distressed with no clothes on at all, with everything on show and the doors and windows to her room open for all visitors and other patients to see.

All patients deserve to be treated with dignity and respect no matter what condition and circumstances they present with.

A lady of 85 years of age who was sick, confused, frightened with Chronic memory problems, some would say a VULNERABLE patient, seems to have been seriously neglected under the care of Lincoln NHS.

So much for your "Dignity in Care Pledges" http://www.ulh.nhs.uk/for_patients/dignity_in_care/documents/Dignity%20Pledges_6_Point_Overview_vers_5_Feb_2011.pdf