"an absolutely appalling experience my father..."

What could be improved

My Fathers mistreatment at Royal Blackburn Hospital. Following a burst vein my father lost approximately 4 pints of blood if not more, being of an old age 70 from my own knowledge and experience I am aware greatly that this is a very dangerous scenario. Emergency services were called out and arrived after an hour of waiting; we were constantly told on the phone that the situation wasn't as serious as others in the area. Not serious? This could have potentially been a death situation had they arrived any later! However the paramedics that arrived were fantastic at their job and although quite a challenging situation for them they were successful in stopping the blood flow as promptly as possible. They went on to say that my father would need to be taken in to Royal Blackburn Hospital to have the veins burnt so this situation does not occur again. The whole family did not sleep due to what had happened. My siblings and I were forced to miss out on University and work due to the worry of my father not returning home quickly. My brother and mother attended the hospital with my father and again, my brother had to miss out on work and sleep! After the return of my father the next day on the 17/04/12 I was absolutely shocked and disgusted that my father had experienced such a thing and the treatment given was very minimal if any! My father explained how he was made to wait all through the night to get seen even through a shift change.

Anything else?

This was also said by both my mother and brother who were also disgusted at the treatment. My father was missing out on his sleep due to immense pain and feeling weak due to large amount of blood loss and yet still was pushed aside and seen the very last? I was also told that more minor injuries were coming into the hospital either before and after my father yet they were still seen before my father was! Younger children were coming into the hospital and seen first? Was my father seen last due to his age? This would be discrimination? Whatever the reason my father’s leg condition is of a serious nature and has remained of this state for many years; and many warnings have been forwarded by Doctors in the past that when the veins burst it is very serious. However my father was always reluctant and refused to attend the hospital as he did not feel they would be able to provide effective treatment. And my gosh he was right! On the night of the incident we had to practically force him to allow us to call the ambulance! When he was finally seen by the hospital staff I have been told they simply did a two minute job of changing the bandage! Is this what you call treatment? Surely we could have done that ourselves instead of waiting through a whole night for minimal response! Absolutely ridiculous! What happened to burning the veins off? Or being seen to properly and receiving a valuable response! This hospital is showing nothing but low standards!! On being discharged my father was not given anything so much as a note to notify doctors of his admission. He feels really let down and remains unhealthy !