Hospital rant - AIBU that this is not acceptable

[Tiredandfedup12]

DC has a life threatening illness that requires 24 hour care - daily iV and iV meds as well as other meds.
we were admitted to hospital Friday night and it’s now sunday Night so on our third night.
we are STILL waiting for her medications to be prescribed - her daily usual medications.
I have chased and chased. Nurse has just come in to say that it now won’t be done again tonight.
AIBU that this is ridiculous ?

The point is her daughter is coming to harm because they aren't being prescribed.
That's the issue at hand. It doesn't matter how many other patients there are. It's unacceptable

Because not all the staff are medical staff. It takes an army of support services to run a good health service.

And because evening , bank holiday and weekend provision at all levels is poor. I don’t understand why this culture exists, it is as though some people think all the patients go home to play golf at the weekend.

Things that nurses could do while sitting down:

• Avoid moaning that they're starving and overdue a break when the man who's 'nil by mouth' has had his surgery postponed by six hours and has been asked to remain nil by mouth in case they can get him on the list later.
• Go through the paper files noting the times that meds should be given to the patients in their care. A simple card system identifying 'Bed 3 at 3pm' would avoid missed doses. Of course it remains important to check that the patient in Bed 3 is the one who was there at the last review.
• Writing on an A4 sheet the name of the ward/unit. Patients are often moved at night with no clue as to where they are going and are therefore unable to inform their relatives (who may assist with toileting, washing and feeding) so that they can be found.

I'm sure that some of these take place in some hospitals - sadly, not the one that I find myself in.

Well there you go, the solution to all the NHS problems solved…

Nurse here . All the meds wither IV or not need to be prescribed? Why have they still not been prescribed. Absolutely shocking!
I would speak to the consultant she is under and contact pals. If there is a truly valid reason why they feel DC cannot have the meds (ie raised blood levels) they should at last let you know.

I raised it when her consultant come down and they looked at the system and was horrified as to why she wasn’t clerked and why her meds had not been prescribed. He said it should be classed as a non event and he is going to report it.

@Tiredandfedup12 the nurse in charge could have also raised this? I hope they submit a datix and there should be an investigation into the matter

Several nurses have mentioned that the only meds taken on hospital premises should be those specifically prescribed within the hospital.
When I was last discharged, the sister on the ward was rather annoyed that my final prescribed drip was replaced with capsules of a similar dosage. Another patient received tablets instead of the IM/IV that she needed.
Are these minor issues that cause stocktaking differences at the pharmacy or serious issues that should be escalated through systems operated by the hospital?

I wasn't aware previously, but some Trusts seem far more error-prone than others, sadly the Trust operating my local hospital seems to be keen on a podium finish:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/provisional-publication-never-events-1-april-31-march-23.pdf

Exactly. Part of the Bawa Garba case. The doctor - correctly - did not give a medication, but the mum did, after getting the ok from a nurse and this contributed to the child’s death, amongst other failures https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadiza_Bawa-Garba_case#

Thank you LadyWithLapdog.
I couldn't remember the exact details. That was an awful case and IMO the consultant should have been struck off.

No wonder there is a staff shortage. Staff get put in dangerously risky situations then get struck off when things inevitably go wrong.

@endofthelinefinally yeah, the consultant forgot he was on call and the junior doctor should have extra highlighted to him the abnormal test results he wrote down. I only know what I read and remember about the case at the time but bizarre, isn’t it, how the blame fell.

I remember a horrible case in the nineties (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1114654/) where an expert doctor was due to give the child their final chemo injection. The child was fasting, the cancer ward was full and a nurse responded to the child's hunger by giving him a digestive biscuit.
The expert doctor who had used the drug (Vincristine) before was therefore unable to give the injection and went off-shift.
A doctor who had never used the drug before, was (incorrectly, in contravention of hospital policy) given two drugs which were to be injected differently.
The second doctor called the first but used vague language and was given confirmation that both needed to be injected. Both were injected into the spine and because the error wasn't spotted immediately, the child died.
I remember the furore at the time, because the collection of errors and misunderstandings by different people diminished the culpability of the doctors and some suggested - fairly or not - that the introduction of additional, error-prone actors into a case could result in dangerous medics not being identified.

What a tragedy for all 😢

@sherloc yes. Some drugs are non formulary and they cannot get hold of but good to take in to be clerked correctly. I've seen this in patients who may be on certain cancer treatment but yes you re correct Some hospitals will use their own. Either way patient should not have gone without unless a very good reason. For example raised toxicity to the drug which wasn't the case here, simply failure to be clerked in

And if the hospital aren't aware of what medication has been given the child overdoses. Unless you are there with them constantly and tell them what you have given them. Our local hospital often give my DD one of her meds by IV. Because it gets into her system quicker and can avoid having to give really strong drugs. If she is given the drugs she can't have a general anaesthetic for a month. Not ideal if she needs an emergency operation.

Well aren't you a delight?

Nothing helpful to say to a worried mum?

Then say nothing

@fuzzystar waiting a whole day just to get medication should not be standard!!! The system is broken, we need to stop excusing mediocre