Hip broken in hospital

Ironically, one of the benefits of covid has been fewer falls among elderly in residential care, especially if they have dementia, because they are being escorted more often to reduce their physical contact with others.

Sorry to hear about your grandad. If he is not having 1:1 I would request this if he does not understand that he can not get up unaided/unsupervised

I dont think they recommended bedrails now if someone is confused and likely to fall in case they try and climb over the top or get various limbs trapped .

It sounds like theres a lot.more to his condition than the initial post. He's gone in with one thing and is apparently well enough to walk. Has a fall breaks his hip. Is then bed bound and falls again? Have rails been put up? Does he have capacity ie does he understand he’s broken his hip and needs to stay in bed? Now he’s confused and you’re talking about POA! There’s a lot of information missing to be able to really be accurate. I’d go through PALs to get a better idea of what has happened and how.

How did he manage to get up with a broken hip then fall and break the other one?

I am so sorry to hear this. Unfortunately occurrences similar this are all too common with elderly people in hospital. My Mum, MIL and FIL to name but 3. Hospitals are so ill-equipped to care for the very frail elderly. The staff/patient ratio is never going to be high enough for this labour-intensive (if you are going to look after them properly) group of people, and imo the same can be said of nursing homes for the most part.

My MIL apparently fell whilst trying to climb over the raised (was it, no-one seems to know for definite?) bed rail (unobserved), despite being so debilitated at the time, that she couldn't sit up and could barely speak. Yeah, right, to use a phrase. She sustained a bleed to the brain which lead to her death. We made a formal complaint, which allowed us to vent our concerns and disbelief, I suppose, but didn't get us anywhere in terms of the hospital admitting any fault. I think it's difficult without witnesses or CCTV footage. But do contact PALS in the first instance and make a complaint.
I'm sorry your family is going through this, made even more difficult by Covid. I hope the outcome for your Grandad is better than you fear at the moment.

If he is very confused then a phone call to him may not be appropriate, there must be a signal or else the ward would never receive any phonecalls, they must have landlines, just try and call the ward manager.

You can speak to him. Insist that the hospital brings a phone to his bed. Escalate to ward manager and above if they refuse.

Poor gd, who is going to be looking after his affairs now if he no longer can make his decisions, you or your parents. He would have had assessments, well I would hope he did! You can contact PALS and say you dont get any updates, have the ward contacted anyone in the family at all. If he has lost capacity then all the care he receives will be in his best interests and at some stage the ward will need to plan a best decision meeting to plan his future care. Have you tried speaking to the ward manager or the doctor. If he is very confused he may be trying to get out of bed, it sounds very distressing.

Unless you’ve POA over health then you’ll need his consent to complain on his behalf/request notes. Have you been able to speak to him on the phone?

Also saying the above as a nurse.

How has he fallen and broken a second hip if he was bed bound? Has he fallen out of bed?

The initial fall and hip breaking is an unfortunate thing that happened, but the rest of it, keeping him NBM every day on the off chance of a theatre slot is ridiculous.

Go to PALS.

He can give you permission to request his notes. He has a right to see them under GDPR legislation. In my experience PALS were useless sorry but you might have a better experience. If your relative risks losing his house to pay for care needed as a result of loss of physical capacity following seven falls when hospitalised, I would seriously consider seeking legal advice first. It might be possible to sue the hospital for negligence on a no win no fee basis to recover the costs of the care your relative would not have needed right now but for the hospitals’s negligence.

You can contact pals. The medical notes may not have all the info you are looking for. You could ask to see his mobility assessments, falls risk assessments, what measures were put in place to reduce him falling, if he has capacity to allow you access to his records. If he is bedbound he shouldnt fall unless somehow he fell out of bed..i would call the ward manager and ask for this info. Do you have power of attorney for his health and welfare.

Your poor dad, that’s awful. 7 falls is shocking and I say that as a nurse.

Falls are common on older peoples wards sadly but staff should carry out risk assessments and should consider enhanced observations or 1:1 care for someone who can’t be supported safely by other measures. Other measures include moving them closer to the nursing office, supervising them when mobilizing, ensuring they know how to use the nurse call bell, falls sensors etc.

In the NHS Trust I work for if a patient who had fallen and broken one hip then fell and broke the other hip in our care, serious questions about our management of the patient would be raised.

I do think you should raise concerns, it sounds a very sad situation.

Im so sorry this has happened to your Grandad . The hospital will have a pals team that you can contact to express your concern about what has happened to your Grandad in their care. They can help you with complaints and investigation.

It's very upsetting when patients fall, it is not always preventable but 7 falls and the delay in surgery certainly sounds alarming.

I hope he gets his 2nd fracture fixed ASAP

I’m so sorry this has happened to your grandad. I would make a request for the medical notes. Why is he falling so much.. Why aren’t they helping him to wherever he needs to go...
I hope you get answers and that he’s able to return home soon.

So sorry to hear about this OP. Been through similar with my own elderly relatives. No one likes to bash the NHS in these dreadful times but in my experience staffing levels are cut to the bone making wards unsafe for vulnerable elderly patients at risk of falling. Your relative’s first fall was possibly a mixture of inadequate supervision and bad luck. Further safeguards should have been put in place thereafter to prevent a second fall from happening. On the face of it the hospital could be negligent in failing to do so. If are thinking about taking matters further request the medical notes immediately and seek legal advice. There are a number of firms with expertise in bringing negligence claims against the NHS.

Falls are so common and the staff cannot be with someone 24hrs a day, patients get up, walk around, dont always ask for help, how did he fall if he is bed bound.

We are likely going to lose his house now to pay for it. You were always likely to lose the house. "Healthy life expectancy" has not increased as much as "life expectancy" and people are requiring care for longer usually for things like dementia. The problem of paying for it is being kicked down the road a bit by using this generation's houses to pay.

I would not be happy about what happened in hospital. You can contact PALS if you wish.

Oh dear - I've just read your other update, I'm so sorry

Have they checked for osteoporosis?

This is very upsetting for you but please do not face it with anger, its just as likely he could have fallen at home.
Be prepared and start looking for a care home place today, somewhere he will be comfortable and happy.
Were you planning on keeping his house? I thought I was sentimental about a house but thats now been put in perspective.
Tbh its just a house and his care is more important