Apologies for the rant..
My father is in his late 60s and went into hospital last month after he had had a few hallucinations which made me suspect all wasn't well. GP had ruled out a UTI and vitamin deficiencies/ blood disorders; he lost consciousness shortly after admission and had aspiration pneumonia which almost killed him - after which, the guidelines on feeding were revised.
He has partially recovered but is incredibly disoriented and hallucinates almost constantly. Nobody really seems interested in what's wrong, or what to do with him apart from getting him out. The ward feel it's not their problem; the neurologists couldn't get a clear MRI so have just put him down as a falls risk with a possible UTI (which he doesn't have) - he apparently has brain damage but since the MRI wasn't clear they can't say what it is or if it was just a case of the MRI not being clear.
Now that Dad is conscious, the ward are not remotely interested in him. He's left to feed himself (which he can't do easily), I suspect he isn't drinking much as he can't see where the water is (and needs me to help if I'm there), and the ward have started sending me home with his laundry. When it was just his pyjamas it was OK, but last time his 'patients belongings' bag had a wet incontinence pad in it which had clearly been there for a while (and which I didn't look for before putting the pyjamas in the wash... my fault, of course, but you don't expect that to come home in a laundry bag! Any tips on getting nappy fluff out of black socks would also help..)
He has also had three falls, one of which was reported to me but the other two were neither reported nor recorded - all three out of the blue rather than him tripping over something. The neurology team say he's perfectly ok even though they also say in the same breath that he's permanently brain damaged; the psychiatrist reckons there's no way he has any sort of capacity and the ward reckon that I ought to have all the information I need to work out what the diagnosis ought to be!
I'm really worried about the care he's receiving and it seems like the hospital have no interest in him at all. I completely get that the NHS is at breaking point and everyone's doing their best, but is this the sort of thing I ought to expect or is it worth complaining?
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Elderly parents
Should I complain to the hospital?
12 replies
permanentlyexhaustedpigeon · 22/09/2016 12:34
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