Saying what those of us with elderly relatives already know

[MereDintofPandiculation]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/19/patients-neglected-and-confused-after-leaving-hospital-says-nhs-watchdog

You're so right, Dint. If I had not been at my mum's side (and I wouldn't say I'm doing a particularly good job) she would have been sent home on end of life care with a bag of very powerful drugs and no idea how or when to use them.
I had the impression that this wasn't about a lack of compassion. The staff were caring. Rather that everyone thought someone else would be doing it.

When I experienced this with my dad I found there was a difference in what the hospital told us would happen and what actually happened.

The last time he was discharged we were told he'd be referred to the specialist community diabetes team.

He died several weeks later of sepsis after yet another infection, they tried to say the high blood sugars were due to food despite nothing changing in his diet. For him high blood sugars were an indication of infection but noone would listen.

The only solace for me is that he's no longer weary and in pain.

DH finished chemo and was told “we are referring you back to Urology”. It took nearly a year to hear from Urology.

On one occasion, my very frail dad was discharged from hospital via hospital transport, to the home he shared with my mum who had dementia late at night - I think they got there after 10pm. No phone call to me or his carer. They didn't see him through the door otherwise they'd have seen that mum had locked it from the inside and he couldn't get in. My poor, medically frail dad slept in the shed that night.
In mum and dads many, many hospital admissions there was very rarely any joined up thinking. For a year there was a team whose job it was to deal with those with multiple conditions and keep them out of hospital, and they were wonderful - rapid access to OT, thought around their holistic medical needs, home care. And then it went again, in spite of the obvious cost savings

Terrible stories. I'm so sorry that you and your loved ones, mums and dads and dear husbands, have had to endure these experiences.

I'm disturbed just driving passed the hospital my lovely Dad was in for his last few weeks. Shockingly bad. On it's knees. We need a new government now!

So many of these stories. A friend of mine dealt with her grandads end of life care this year and we are dealing with my granny's now. All so unjoined up and vague.

My Dad was admited for a week following a collapse. He was in A & E on a hard chair for 36 hours, then on 4 wards in 5 days. He got C Diff and was exposed to Covid for good measure. The C Diff outbreak meant a closed ward so he was alone when he was told he had liver cancer - and he was discharged at 10pm meaning I had a 50 mile round trip to dash in and get him. His heating was off, he had no food or milk in.... it was horrific. He was referred back to his GP and Oncology but it took weeks of chasing to find out what was happening and we ended up complaining to PALS who sorted it promptly.

@CMOTDibbler that is fucking horrendous.

This shocked many. Put to bed in the wrong house!
https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/elderly-woman-wrongly-discharged-hospital-8773257

And if course, if she’d said “this isn’t my house”, at 83 they’d gave just thought “Bless her! She’s confused”