to think FIL should not be discharged 200+ miles from home after open heart surgery.

[StayingDavidTennantsGirl]

My FIL (in his 70s)recently had a heart attack, and is soon going to be transfered by ambulance from his local hospital to one over 200 miles away, to have Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

The hospital tell us that he will probably be discharged 4 or 5 days post-op, and that he'll have to make his own way home. Dh and I live over 350 miles away from the hospital where he's to have the operation, and over 550 miles from where FIL lives, dbil is going to be working abroad and cannot take time off, and FIL's partner (also in her 70s) is not happy to drive that far.

I do not think that it is reasonable to discharge a man in his 70s who has recently had a fairly large heart attack, and who has had major surgery involving a long incision in his leg, and opening up his sternum, plus time on a bypass machine, and to have no care at all about how he is supposed to get home!

Does anyone here know what the NHS should do in such cases to get patients home, or at least to the local hospital from which they were transfered? Does my FIL have any rights given that he will be transfered to the larger hospital from the local one by ambulance, and is not going to be a well man when discharged - obviously, if he was going to have something minor done, I would not be worrying about him travelling home all that distance on the train (as he has suggested).

[LucyLouLou]

I think there are charities that help with this kind of thing, but I honestly have no idea how far they are willing to transport and what their names are. Sorry I can't help further, but this might be something you could ask the hospital about. Best of luck, YADNBU IMO.

[StayingDavidTennantsGirl]

I will be ringing them tomorrow, and will ask them that, BLBL.

[hairytriangle]

I'm pretty sure they'll have to lay on an ambulance as he has no other form of transportation home.

[spanxaremyonlyfriend]

Can PALS help?



www.pals.nhs.uk/default.aspx

[StayingDavidTennantsGirl]

Thanks - will contact them tomorrow too - might they know if he should be sent home in an ambulance, do you think?

[AngelHMum]

Are the hospital fully aware of you fil's home situation and how far away his family is ?

We have had a similar experience recently - my mum had a massive stroke and my dad is fighting cancer and has been having treatment at a hospital some way from home. We live 250 miles away so can't run him around as much as we'd like to.

Once the hospital was fully aware of the situation they did arrange transport for him if a relative couldn't be there to collect him.

We found the PALS service very useful too.

It sounds like he should at the very least be transferred back to his local hospital by ambulance. He'll be in no fit state to be finding his own way home.

Talk to them and I'm sure you'll find that they will be sympathetic and organise something. Often hospitals seem to just assume that patients can arrange things themselves unless told otherwise.

Good luck and I hope everything goes ok for him.

[ItsGraceActually]

YANBU of course. I'm shocked! Presumably the issue hasn't come to their notice & things will be sorted out once you ring them ... Please update! And good luck :)

[Appletrees]

Yanbu. Poor bloke. Stupid priorities the public sector as.

[StayingDavidTennantsGirl]

So sorry everyone - it seems we were panicking for nothing. Apparently the hospital that he's in have told him and us a load of total rubbish, and if he tells the other hospital on admission that he lives alone and has no family support locally, they will probably discharge him to a smaller hospital for convalescence There's no way they'd just push him out of the door to make the 200 mile journey home under his own steam.

[ItsGraceActually]

Oh, good! :)

[LucyLouLou]

Oh that's great news! :)

[StayingDavidTennantsGirl]

Thank-you.

[StormyWeather]

Staying, glad you got it sorted out. I was shocked when I first read this. My DH had CABG and after five days there is no way he'd have been able to walk to the corner shop, never mind make a journey like that, on his own. It will take your FIL months to recover from such a major operation, though most of this will indeed be at home.