I'll, fed up and medical negligence

[Offonagadwaddick]

I've got flu and pneumonia. Been in hospital for a while. Spent 17 hours in a&e, never offered water despite asking. When I've been receiving the meds through the cannula it's been incredibly painful and I said stop and they haven't. Final straw yesterday, I was given the medicine for the patient next door.
Tried signing myself out but in reality I'm too poorly. Especially heading into a bank holiday. I'm confused, shattered and scared. I've asked to see a copy of my notes but as usual the person I asked has left the room and not come back. Consultant is a bit of an arse which is standard and wouldn't answer my question yesterday.

What would you do? Should there be something I should be doing? I can't think straight.

Contact pals?

Definitely contact patients liaison service and put in a formal complaint. Being given medication for someone else could be lethal and is a "never event". You should be getting water too, without needing to ask! 😡

Do you have someone to advocate for you?
Pals are pretty good.

I would start openly taking notes, giving you next doors med is very sloppy.

Have you anyone who can assist you, a friend or family member?

Have you a friend or family member who can advocate for you?

Failing that, you can contact PALS. And/or ask to speak to the ward sister?

PALS or the hospital may have a Call 4 Concern number which is for exactly this type of thing. Also you could try asking for the Site Practitioner, worth trying the switchboard if nobody will help you

I've asked to speak to the ward manager. I'm waiting on bloods then I can go but there's no sign of anything. Everytime I ask for something they listen then walk off!! No one comes back.
My husband is coming in tonight. V limited staff due to bank holiday.
I have yesterday's water but Im rationing it.

You're having to ration water in the NHS in 2024?! This is insane. I'd ask your husband to bring you some bottled water supplies this evening OP and then when you're well kick up a huge stink about the appalling "care" you've received. Being given someone else's meds is also beyond unacceptable. I'm so sorry. Hope you feel better soon

Thank you. My husband suggested walking down the ward if I'm capable. Bit of germ warfare.

Get onto PALS straightaway. They may not have anyone on call today nor tomorrow, but there should be some cover and the sooner you get them involved, the better, even if you're just an "earlier" message on their answerphone for when they get back in after the bank holiday. These things seldom get better without someone to advocate for you, so if you don't start the ball rolling, then you could suffer a few more days before any improvement. Also get your OH to bring you A LOT of drink, food, etc., as it sounds like the nursing/support staff on your ward aren't remotely interested in looking after your non medical welfare.

To what end?

I can predict how that will go:
'We've spoken to the x in charge on x date who will justify their mistake/neglicence with some bullshit excuse and accept no accountability whatsoever. We're sorry that you feel you received insufficient care.'

Can your DH not come and help advocate for you.
Yes of course you should have water but please get him to bring you some in. Don't just go without.
Cannula may need reinserted if painful.
Ask them if they've raised a datix on the mistaken medication. Did you actually take it?

So are you going to contact PALS? You can do it from your hospital bed. Being given someone else's meds is massively negligent and obviously very dangerous and needs reporting immediately. How did you know it was the wrong meds? Did they tell you?

If you are on a ward have the kitchen staff not been round to ask you about breakfast, lunch, dinner etc? Are you getting food? They normally replace the water jugs. There are also HCAs who can get you water if you press your call buzzer, although I appreciate that they haven't been coming back.

If you have had pneumonia you will have had IV antibiotics and if improving be switched to tablets eventually. IV antibiotics can sometimes sting a bit, but shouldn't hurt going through the cannula, you can ask them to give you a new cannula. They normally only last a few days anyway. The bloods will likely be to check if your infection markers are good enough to switch to tablets if you haven't done already. If you are feeling confused then you don't sound well enough to go home yet.

You can find the email for PALS on the hospital website and email them, especially about that medication error, totally unacceptable. Is there anyone else friend/family that could visit you before tonight to check on things and advocate for you?

There also really shouldn't be limited nursing staff, the bank holiday days are key shifts that staff generally cannot take annual leave for and many staff do bank on these days due to extra pay. Something wrong there. There are less medical staff over a bank holiday, though still enough to review ward patients.

I agree with pp on contacting PALS. Dh rang on my behalf, when I was being bullied into having a procedure I didn't want during pregnancy, by a room full of medical staff (1 female consultant, 4 male members of staff (no idea who they were), and me on my own, and in bed. It was extremely intimidating, and the female consultant mocked me, glancing and smirking at her male colleagues "oh they all have a friend who has had this and horror stories etc." I felt humiliated by her. The male collegues looked uncomfortable; it wa awful. There was a choice in this situation, and dh argued it was unacceptable this was being taken away, and that 5/6 people on one blindsiding someone was disgusting. They has all just abruptly marched into my hospital room unannounced, I had nobody with me.
Funnily enough my consultant was changed, and suddenly she never came back. Complain for sure op.

You poor thing 💐

I've recently had similar experiences in the NHS. I created this username to ask advice on here regarding complaining. You have my sympathies.

The only thing that helped me was becoming 'that patient' I had to kick up a fuss (loudly but NOT aggressively). It seems to be, the only way to get the medical attention you need these days, is to shout from the rooftops until they give you it. It's the silent ones that slip under the net unfortunately.

Easier said than done when you're feeling sick and vulnerable. I suggest you keep pressing your buzzer, keep shouting and demanding water until you get it. Ask the staff for their names and take note of who is in charge of your care, this holds them accountable for their actions and mistakes like the incorrect medication. It's the only way.

Once you are feeling better, please complain about the negligent treatment you have received. Someone needs to be held accountable for the failures in our health care system.

Good luck.

it's not a bank holiday in the UK today so staffing's pretty normal. Hospitals are rammed with a combination of flu and granny-dumping over Christmas so it's very busy.

if you're just waiting for bloods and home and you're normally able to get up and about then you could get up to get some water? Lots of wards have water fountains/patient kitchens. If you're not able to get up and about when normally you would be then it sounds like home might not be such a good idea. Is the pneumonia due to aspiration? That might be a good clinical reason for limiting oral intake (but they should be replacing with IV/NG fluid though if it is).

Sometimes cannulas are sore even when they're working. Unless it's clearly inflamed/tissued it's occasionally worth sticking with it for the last dose or two before home. If it's obviously a dud cannula though it should be changed/the route of drugs be reviewed.

the medication error should clearly be incident reported and a duty of candour chat re. what happened/why/whether there are implications of having taken the meds (if you did), and for the other customer whether there's any consequences of them having missed their meds (if they did).

a lot of hospitals have introduced a 'martha's law' type service where patients/relatives who're worried about deterioration can request a 2nd pair of eyes. It may be worth exploring whether they could review fluid balance.

PALS might be able to help, but are probably more likely to be on reduced staffing that the ward staff are this week.

When they brought the wrong medication how was it discovered?
Did they ask your name and DOB?

Are you waiting for actual blood tests to be taken, or are you just waiting for the results? If it's just results, I would discharge myself and ask them to email you the results or send them to your GP. I phoned PALs in a dire emergency...they took over a week to get back to me because they were "so busy". And as for 'never events', they happened every shift, every day when DS was in hospital. No acknowledgement, but lots of defensive behaviour with an occasional "there'll be learnings". There are ALWAYS fewer staff (and no specialists) at night and Bank Holidays. It's better to get out ASAP.

I have certainly experienced never events while on a ward, but the response has varied depending on who discovered it. It's worth trying PALS, I have seen them be effective.

I rang PALS from my room. They weren't allowed on the wards due to the infectious nature of the flu. But rang the ward to find out what the hell was going on. I was offered more unnecessary medicine and I queried it loudly. I managed to get home last night. The pharmacist giving me my meds had no clue about the mix up earlier. They should have been told apparently. No one even checked contraindications even though I asked three times. The discharge paperwork is incorrect. I found a file outside my room which had blatant lies on it. So we're going to write a formal complaint.

A&E is an absolute joke at the moment and just not fit for purpose. I was in recently (also with pneumonia). I was so weak I couldn't sit up without fainting and was yet expected to sit upright in a plastic chair for 12 hours and when I asked for a reclining chair I was told they don't have them or beds and everyone is in plastic chairs. It was just about bearable while my husband could be with me as he could advocate for me and take me in a wheelchair to the toilet when needed but he had to go back home to look after the kids. Once on my own I asked a passing nurse if someone could help me to the toilet as I was too weak to get there on my own. I was told someone would be with me shortly....two hours later and I had not been taken and I ended up soiling myself.