Hospital contact

[FruHagen]

Does anyone know if it's possible to ring a hospital and talk to a doctor or nurse about a loved one? Or maybe even speak to them.

My Mum has been taken into hospital after a stroke and my brothers and sister are there but I am stuck abroad with worsening Covid restrictions and young children to care for. They are updating me but everything is mediated through them so I can't get the full picture.

Does anyone know how to communicate with staff / patient when a loved one is in hospital?

You can ring the ward and ask to speak to her nurse and ask the name of the consultant doctor who is looking after her. Call the doctors secretary and ask for a phone call.

Unfortunately you may find that if your siblings are already visiting and/or getting phone updates from the ward, the medical staff may be reluctant to do additional regular updates for someone else: they don't have the time to go through everything for multiple people. But it is definitely worth asking, and explaining the situation to the ward.

Some hospitals now have a system for booking video chats with patients, if they are up to it, but again it depends on availability of staff to facilitate. British hospitals are very understaffed and under pressure at the moment, so that kind of thing may be a low priority unless someone is in end-of-life care (I hope that is not relevant for your DM).

Can your siblings arrange a facetime call with mum on their mobile phones if she is able to do that.

Thanks for such helpful advice.

I will try your suggestions. Thank you all!

They will usually only talk to one family member on phone with updates but may facilitate calls if she is very unwell. If your siblings are having meetings maybe these can be shared virtually with you.

Sorry your mum is ill. Yes, you can find out the ward she is on then ring it directly if you have the number , or ring the hospital general number and ask to be put through to the ward and then when you are put through just say who you are and who you're asking about. They might ask you to ring back if the nurse or sister can't talk at that moment. You'll have to ask them if it's possible to speak to a doctor.

I mean there might not be a doctor there at the time you call or they might be busy or doing their round/not seen the patient yet. But you can definitely speak to a doctor. Nurse/Sister can give updates though.

Oh and if you ask them if you can speak to her they should help you to do that

Does she have a phone with her? ( even if she can't use it herself) . Someone, maybe a healthcare assistant, can help her to use it. They can phone you from it. Just ask when you ring. That's what they've done with my dad before.

It's not true that you can definitely speak to a doctor or nurse regarding your mum. They often have a key contact person in the family who is expected to disseminate the information.

I don't mean to be negative, but it's something to be prepared for.

It won't harm to ask though and explain that you aren't able to travel and you aren't getting clear information.

We found contact very difficult when dad was in hospital. At first they would only update mum who has dementia and couldn't understand what they were telling her let alone remember it. It took mum phoni g the ward 5 times in just over an hour having forgotten she had already spoken to someone for them to get it which was a bit worrying for a ward specialising in elder care. Even once it was on dad's notes they sometimes refused to speak to anyone else despite my brother having health POA. When we knew what was going on we took turns in phoning mum several times a day to remind her and stop her keep phoning the ward. The days they wouldn't update DB we couldn't.

Different hospitals may have different policies on contact, but there is no harm in ringing the ward yourself for an update.