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Respect and kindness before my Mother's death

Posted By kenzo

"Respect and kindness before my Mother's death"

About: Rotherham Hospital / Older people's healthcare

(as a relative),

My mother was admitted to Rotherham General Hospital Ward A6 over the weekend of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

We were told that it would be unlikely that she would survive and from that point onwards we, as well as my mum, were cared for with the utmost respect and kindness.

It was not possible for us to have a side room until the day mum died but we were curtained off from the rest of the bay and staff checked in on us regularly offering tea and sympathy. My mum was washed at least twice daily and only two hours before she passed away she was turned on her bed and a cushion placed under her leg for her comfort. We were told of a relatives room which we used for four nights and quite frankly wouldn't have managed without (they also gave us a comfort pack so that Dad could have a shave).

Whilst on the ward we saw and heard nurses treating the other patients with respect and kindness, even though some were quite testing :)

At the end, the night staff offered us to stay as long as we wanted to and made us all a hot drink whilst informing us what to do now.

I urge anyone to donate money to the Purple Butterfly Appeal so that more people can die with dignity surrounded by their loved ones in Rotherham Hospital.

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Responses

Response from Grace Oldfield, Patient Involvement Manager, Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust 11 years ago
Grace Oldfield
Patient Involvement Manager,
Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust

As part of my role, I support clinical services who undertake patient and public involvement on behalf of The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust which helps us to develop or redesign our services with patients in mind, from the valuable feedback we are given.

Submitted on 29/06/2012 at 07:22
Published on Care Opinion at 12:29

Dear kenzo, thank you for your posting on Patient Opinion web site. Please accept our condolences on the recent passing away of your mother. We appreciate you contacting us to offer your kind words at what must be a very difficult time for you and your family and highlighting the care from our staff on Ward A6 who looked after your Mother. We will, of course, pass on your kind comments to the staff concerned, and are sure this will mean a lot to them.

We would also like to thank you for your kind words about the Purple Butterfly Appeal. We feel that it is important for patients to be treated as individuals, with dignity, respect, courtesy and consideration and are also pleased that the comfort pack provided was useful to you.

We will continue to raise funds to provide rooms that are a home from home where patients can be cared for with the support of relatives and friends and are also pleased that you found the relative’s room on the ward helpful.

With best wishes,

Grace

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Response from Helen Wyatt, Manager, Patient and Public Involvement , Quality Assurance Team, Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group 11 years ago
Helen Wyatt
Manager, Patient and Public Involvement , Quality Assurance Team,
Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group

I support the organisation in making sure that the voice of patients and the public is heard and used in planning services. This involves running events, managing surveys, and building networks with the local community.

Submitted on 03/07/2012 at 16:07
Published on Care Opinion at 16:16

Dear Kenzo

Thankyou for taking the time to share your experiences during a difficult time for you and your family, and please accept my condolences.

I just wanted to tell you how important stories like yours can be. At the moment, I'm collecting views and conducting surveys around peoples experiences of end of life care, and have been talking to patients, staff and carers. Your story so clearly demonstrates what good care should look like, and just how important it is for services to get it right.

Because of this. I'd like to include your story with the other information I've been collecting, and it will be used to inform how services are planned and commissioned in the future.

Once again, many thanks for taking the time to share your families experience.

Helen

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