AIBU to question my husband's treatment in a hospital waiting room?

[SadlyNotATroll]

Posting here for traffic sorry. DH had a routine blood test on Thursday and was sent straight to hospital after some concerning numbers relating to his kidneys I think. He was there all day Thursday having tests and sent home. Was called at 10:30 on Thursday evening saying he had to go back in the next morning. I don’t want to over share his personal details on the internet but he is being treated with IV antibiotics but isn’t actually being told what for. Last night they had no beds and he slept in a chair in the clinic waiting room. I say slept but he didn’t sleep at all. Today he’s still there and being told he will be needing to stay in over the weekend but they have no beds. He has no privacy and is sat upright in a chair.

I get that the NHS is in dire straits, I really do. But how can he be treated in a waiting room chair and be expected to sleep and recover there? Do we have any recourse at all? Please don’t think this is a nurse/NHS bashing thread. The staff have been wonderful and it’s not their fault at all.

I’d definitely be advocating for him to be ambulated (or virtual ward) where he just comes in for his antibiotics. My son had to do this recently and it was much better for him to be at home when he could be (until he got seriously poorly but that’s nothing to do with the way they administered the iv antibiotics!) have you posed the question to them whether this is an option?

it only ‘is what it is’ because we all stand for it. The nhs is NOT free. We stand for dire treatment, medically and in terms of treating us humanly so often because there’s this perceived idea that we’re so lucky to have a resource that we all collectively pay for.

Hi, At first I thought you were saying he was in a chair in A&E all day Thursday, overnight (hence sleeping or not) and all today, receiving ABs but not having seen a doctor.

i've just reread your post. After test results (?by GP) on Thursday (yesterday), he was sent to the hospital for further tests, arriving there at?what time. He had the further tests and after the results he was sent home (?at what time). Then at 1030 last night (Thursday) he was told he would have to return this morning (Friday) and he got there at what time? He has been on a chair in A&E but iv ABs have been started. You dont think he's seen a doctor but someone has made the decisipn to start them. Neither you nor he know what they are for. It sounds like time to ask to see an A&E doctor OR the Lead Nurse Or whoever prescribed p0the ABs or the a&e clinical manager and find out
a) what is going on
b) what the plan is
C) depending on ABs can he go home after evening dose
Make a point of stating issue re food.
Hopefully this is already being sorted..have you phoned your GP re what's happening?

So it looks like, on paper, they’ve hit their targets

Not quite right. For a person under the age of 18 who is claiming either child DLA or PIP, both the daily living and mobility components continue while they are in hospital - part of this is because there is an assumption that the parents will still be involved in their care. PIP is an overlapping benefit so it’s right that it stops if the person is in hospital or taken into care at the public expense, because the person in hospital/care is having their assessed needs under PIP/DLA for both daily living and mobility met,simply by being there. Would you have the tax payer pay twice for the same thing ?

The caveat is that the mobility allowance stops for those who have a motability vehicle and it has to be handed back - I’ve never really understood this, especially where there is a designated driver who will still be using the vehicle for the claimants’ benefit by visiting them in hospital.

NHS is a complete shit show

Nonsense. The NHS would collapse without immigration.

Agree re the trolley.

My 85 year old dad was sat on a chair in A&E for 21 hours whilst waiting for a bed this time last year. He has both poor mobility and very poor heart function. When eventually admitted, he was on a trolley in the corridor of the ward. On the way to the ward there were several empty unused trolleys in a corridor at the far end of the hospital.

This is happening a lot at our local hospitals. I can only guess that it’s to massage the figures on how labour are supposedly reducing the amount of people on trolleys in corridors. They’re leaving them sat in A&E instead!

I actually meant a spouse

I think I'd kick up a real fuss if it were me. You need to speak to a doctor. You've been there since last night so is that really such a tall order? You and your DH need to know WHY he is there and WHAT he's being treated for, at the very least. I know they're busy, but FFS, it's nearly 24 hours later - I think someone with a medical degree can come and speak to you for 5 mins!

So we should just …. accept it??

One wonders how we ever had any improvements in our society, from women right, to labour protections, holidays and yes the NHS….

Doesn't it break your fire safety rules to have that many patients though?

Yes it’s awful but unfortunately that’s the NHS, same thing happened to my 90 year old dad a couple of years ago, sat in a chair for hours then slept on a hard examination bed as there were no proper beds. And why on earth haven’t one of you asked what he is being treated for?!

The Dr will have decided on a course of action, prescribed it and and then left the nurses to carry out his instructions.
Ask to speak to either the nurse in charge, or the Dr who decided on the course of action.

Do you really think the care a disabled person receives stops when they are in Hospital?

Like someone who needs help getting dressed or showering this will be done by … nurses???

Carers carrying caring when someone is in hospital. Maybe more actually because they now need to advocate tge hell out fir that person.

So yes this is what happens.
Doesnt mean it’s right and proper.

Because strategic planning exists? Complaints are reviewed at strategic level so changes can be made where there are repeat issues. That's if the hospital is any good, if it's badly run nothing will happen, but it doesn't mean it's not worth complaining.

I would (and have) self discharged home in that circumstance and come back in the morning.

I’d understand it if you were being told his blood results suggest an infection and as a precautionary measure they were starting antibiotics, but I can’t get my head round why nursing staff would refuse to tell you the reason. Makes no sense at all.

Also it’s odd that you only think it was something to do with his kidneys.

You have to advocate for you and yours in these situations and the first place to start is to seek out the missing information asap.

You're right.
Absolutely nobody in charge will be aware of having inadequate beds and patients being nursed in corridors.
Probs best to bring it to their attention.

Do you really really not hope for more from our NHS? Expect even?

So my elderly father, late seventies, with arthritis and excruciating, recurrent back pain from an injury thirty years ago, went in because of heart issues. He spent nearly two full days and nights on various chairs because there were no beds but he needed monitoring and a drip. He was in agony. Didn't matter - still got a chair. Like your DH, he didn't fully understand what the IV was for, nor the various scans they said he had to have and couldn't go home without. He saw a doctor once in the morning, then he just sat there (eventually lay there once given a bed) for the rest of the day. Utterly miserable. It's no one person's fault, but it adds up to utter incompetence and terrible experiences for patients.

No but there very little OP can do today to fix the nhs or get him a bed

My DH suffered similar last year. It isn’t the fault of the NHS, but it is the fault of the government, with has had right wing instincts and spends less than other EU countries on health care. Thank you Streeting. May we not see you in another top job! 🙏

Is he actually in a waiting room
it does sound like he’s on SDEC department

No, but she can be less passive and demand answers about what her husband's treatment is and what he's being treated for.