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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be desperately worried about my mums current hospital inpatient care

52 replies

2014meh · 10/01/2014 15:29

Long story short- she was admitted for an orthopaedic operation and has various underlying health conditions (she's 75).

Op went well according to surgeon but she has hardly eaten since she has been back on the ward, and has experienced chest pains, ECG shows nothing apparently and is not really getting mobile 4 days post -op as experiencing shortness of breath when the physio staff try to get her walking with a frame. She's now bed bound and being supplied with oxygen.

I was worried about her post-op care and recovery before she went in, I'm now building up to frantic. There's no sense of urgency amongst the nursing/support staff on the ward. Everything is "Oh yes we must do a/b or get person x or y to look at that/see you" but this then either takes 48 hours or doesn't happen at all. If this was their mother in hospital I'm pretty sure stuff would be taken care of pronto. My sister is terrified of putting her hand up and saying anything and says not to push anything with the ward staff.

It's Friday now, so I'm looking into the abyss of hospital inpatient care at a weekend with the dearth of testing/scanning/senior medical staff around that this entails.

They're going to f**cking send her out in a wheelchair or a box aren't they ? She ain't gonna walk out by herself as they said she might.

What can I do to help stop this tragedy in progress and maximise her chances of a recovery ?

OP posts:

3littlefrogs · 10/01/2014 15:33

PALS. Look up their number on the hospital website and ring them now.
There should be a number for the "modern matron" or whatever they call them now, for the orthopaedic department. Ask to speak to them as a matter of urgency.
Is your mum being given injections in her tummy to prevent blood clots?

My mum died in hospital due to neglect.

Please shout as loud as you need to, before the weekend starts and there is no medical care.

maddening · 10/01/2014 15:44

Also if she is in bed 24/7 they are supposed to put a special blanket under her which provides a current to stop bed sores (friend at work's db is a medical lawyer and he ensured their gran had one when in recently)

bigbluebus · 10/01/2014 15:51

2014 You have my full sympathy. My DM is also in hospital having had a hip replacement after a fall. She too had other health conditions before the op and was slow to recover at the start. Whilst others on the ward who had the same op were up on their feet the next day, my mum was still bed bound a week later and on oxygen as her O2 levels were down and her blood pressure was low, so they couldn't stand her up. Getting moving as quickly as possible is key to a good recovery after such ops, so the lack of progress was a great worry.

I agree about the lack of urgency and nothing at all happens at all at weekends or bank holidays unless there is a medical emergency. I agree that you need to speak to someone today about what the plan is for your mother and what their expectations are as regards timeframes for recovery/progress. You then have the info you need to chase them if the things they say should happen then don't happen.

My DM thankfully made progress after a week or so and is now walking with a frame - she is 10 yrs older than your DM though OP, so she did make progress even if it was slower than others.

But I feel your pain/stress/frustration as my mum is now on a 'rehab' ward with very little 'rehab' actually taking place

bigbluebus · 10/01/2014 15:56

maddening bed bound patients need an 'airflow' mattress to prevent pressure sores. All immobile patients should be assessed and given a score for risk of pressure sores and allocated an appropriate mattress.

euq8820 · 10/01/2014 16:08

Im a nurse on an orthopaedic ward, they should do a CTPA on your mum to make sure she hasn't got a clot (shortness of breath and chest pain would be an indicator), ask what pain medication she's on, it might be too strong for her and she needs to come off some of it too get her appetite back. I wouldn't worry too much about the mobilising until you get the other things sorted. Be no harm looking into convalescence with Physio for a week or 2 for when she is discharged, keep pushing and I hope she gets better soon.

WeAllHaveWings · 10/01/2014 16:14

when my dad was in hospital after a stoke last year we spoke to the nurses and asked to speak to his dr/consultant, this was arranged for the next day and cleared up any concerns. can you ask to do that?

3littlefrogs · 10/01/2014 16:16

Will they do anything like that over a weekend?
IME there is no care at all over weekends.

NorthernLurker · 10/01/2014 16:17

You need to engage with the ward staff. That is the route. Given that your mum is 75 and has health conditions you possibly need to be talking to them about how she was pre-op. They need to be clear what they should be looking for her to be up to. For example some 75 year olds will eat very little. If your mum had a good appetite pre -op then be sure to tell them that. Be polite, constructive and yes appreciate the pressures they are working with but be persistent too. Listen to what they say - with the not mobilising with physio - is there any chance she was frightened of moving and that hindered her too? Could you arrange to be there when they try to mobilise so you can observe and encourage her.

NorthernLurker · 10/01/2014 16:18

There won't be physio cover over a weekend I don't think and there may not be senior medical cover apparent on the wards. The cover could be on an on call basis. However the weekend is a good time to engage with the nursing staff as they haven't got as many people going off to Theatre etc.

Laurel1979 · 10/01/2014 16:27

I'm sure this is an awful time. I would recommend speaking to the Ward Manager (the new version of matron), voice your concerns and request a "medical review" (ie that she is seen by a physician/medical Dr - a different team to the orthopods). They will be well used to dealing with elderly patients with complex medical problems. I'm not sure how things are organised nowadays as I'm now a GP but when I was a medical SHO we would go and review/follow up people on the surgical wards who needed extra medical care. I think nowadays many orthopaedic wards have their own orthogeriatricians, it may be worth asking to speak to them if possible. If her surgical problem is stable, she could also be moved to a geriatric or general medical ward, which would be more appropriate. I hope everything is ok.

toysintheattic · 10/01/2014 16:30

I'm a GP and agree with euq, your mum is at high risk for a blood clot in the lung and her symptoms fit with that. If she were my mum I'd be mentioning the words 'pulmonary embolus' to every clinical-type person walking past, if they've ruled this out fine but they need to tell you this. An ECG won't rule it out, she needs a scan. Be firm and persistent with the ward staff, make sure they know you are worried and say those 'pulmonary embolus' words, though on an orthopaedic ward they should be pretty clued up to that as a post-op complication. Hope things improve over the weekend.

Floralnomad · 10/01/2014 16:34

I think some of the comments on here are clouded by personal experience , which is reasonable, but misleading . Hospitals run a 24 hour service and care is ongoing ,if someone is ill on a weekend they get treatment ,they don't get sat in a corner until Monday . If you have concerns speak to the ward manager / nurse in charge and tell them your concerns ,if they then don't get you satisfactory answers speak to the consultant .

BrianTheMole · 10/01/2014 16:34

Be polite but assertive and ask for an appointment to see her consultant asap. Write down all the questions you have, and write down the answers. If you are still unhappy then make a complaint through pals, or go straight to the hospital managers.

3littlefrogs · 10/01/2014 16:45

Floralnomad
We begged over and over again for help. All weekend.

scarletandblack · 10/01/2014 16:47

Oh, goodness, I do feel for you, OP. I now have my mum living at home with us in a 'bedsit' converted from our dining room, because I was so desperate to get her out of hospital, following an op after she broke her hip in a fall. I remember feeling so strongly that her time was ebbing away, and that I would be able to do a better job of nursing her, when I got her home.

The op went very well, I can't fault them. But after care was another story. She was over-medicated, couldn't eat because she felt sick all the time as a result of medication, got weaker and weaker, and was rendered nearly comatose by one of the drugs, which I eventually managed to get her off, by waiting 5 hours to speak to a doctor.

That was on a Saturday. It was the best thing I could have done, because the doctor took my desperation seriously and acted on it. Ultimately it is the doctors who say what goes. The nursing staff basically carry out their instructions. Insist on speaking to a duty doctor, even if you have to wait. If there is no medical necessity for her to be in hospital, is it possible you could take her out?

BrianTheMole · 10/01/2014 17:01

Hospitals run a 24 hour service and care is ongoing ,if someone is ill on a weekend they get treatment ,they don't get sat in a corner until Monday

No but there are less senior consultants on at the weekend, and certainly at some hospitals the mortality rate seems to be higher at the weekends.

BrianTheMole · 10/01/2014 17:02

Insist on speaking to a duty doctor, even if you have to wait.

Yes, I would agree with this.

dramajustfollowsme · 10/01/2014 17:02

I'm not sure how to do a link. I have a thread on chat, about my grandad
A lot of your concerns sound very familiar. I'm finding you need to fight, fight, fight all the way to get any where. Keep asking questions and finding out what is going on. I'm finding it horrifically difficult to get anywhere.
Good luck.

dramajustfollowsme · 10/01/2014 17:04

Bugger my link didn't work.

ChineseFireball · 10/01/2014 17:08

No advice but a similar experience. My father is receiving palliative end of life care. Supposedly. In reality it took over 18 hours for the morphine syringe driver to go in. I spent 5 hours with him and during that time not once was his call bell answered. When I arrived and went into his room he was partially naked and uncovered. His water cup was empty. I am going to raise hell.

dramajustfollowsme · 10/01/2014 17:13

I really feel like going to the papers about my grandad. The level of care is shocking.

3littlefrogs · 10/01/2014 17:14

ChineseFireball
You have to get him into a hospice by whatever means you can.
Unfortunately this is much more difficult once a person is in hospital.
Good luck.
It is soul destroying and dreadfully distressing .

Floralnomad · 10/01/2014 17:15

3littlefrogs I'm not disbelieving you and you have every right to feel aggrieved but that is one families experience of 1 hospital ( I do know other people will feel the same) , however for every horror story there is another hospital doing it right and doing it properly .hopefully the OP will be able to get her answers by directing them at the right people .

3littlefrogs · 10/01/2014 17:16

Hospitals run a 24 hour service and care is ongoing ,if someone is ill on a weekend they get treatment ,they don't get sat in a corner until Monday

Gosh. Where is this wonderful hospital?

3littlefrogs · 10/01/2014 17:19

No - Stafford affected lots of families.
The hospital my mum died in had been all over the local papers too.
It is not just one family's experience of one hospital. Not by a very long way.

Sorry. I need to leave this thread now.
OP I really hope you get the care sorted for your DM.

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