I am probably writing this in the wrong thread so please point me in the right direction if I am wrong.. This may be lengthly
My Dad (79) had a heart attack last year. Ambulance was called and he was admitted to hospital.
They wanted to do an angiogram to check for any damage or blockages. The heart attack had caused AKI (acute kidney injury) so had to wait for that to recover in order to do the Angiogram. They later decided his heart was fine and they wouldn't need to do one. Days passed and my Dad began to get very very confused. He was imaging allsorts and it was very upsetting to see him so distressed every time we came in to see him.
I noticed doctors daily about hoe concerned I was and that this wasn't his normal baseline. Normally he was fully aware. Never confused. No signs of dementia. Staff sort of brushed it off and said they would look into it.
He was treated once for possible infection. Treated for constipation as they thought this may he the cause of the confusions. Brain scan given. Everything was fine apparently. Diagnosed his with acute delerium. My Dad then lost the use of his legs. Physio came twice to try and help him mobilise but then didn't come back. He could hardly sit up properly in bed on his own. My Dad was fully mobile prior to this. Yes, a little unsteady and stiff with age but he was still getting up and about, occasionally walking his dog.
My Dad was hardly eating and was hardly drinking. For years my Dad had an issue with choking in food and liquids. Investigations were done but there was no reason for it. It never bothered him for the 20+ years. Dietician decided he needed pureed food and thickened fluids. My Dad would not eat any of this. He couldn't stand the water.
Doctors aware of how little he was eating and drinking but no fluids/drips were given.
One day my Dad tried to get up (remember he is very confused) , no bed rails, and he fell and face planted the ground. Badly breaking his nose (imagine a boxer with their nose spread across their face 🤮) His nose had to be reset in place.
A short while later Doctor advised us to expect the worse only for a few days later to say he was absolutly fine and they would he transferring him to a different ward to get him ready for home.
Came to visit him on the day he moved wards and he was unresponsive. Nurse advised us his blood pressure was low and this was likely due to needing fluids. She said he would probably get a drip. No drip was given!
Next day he was fine again, sitting in bed, still very confused but at least talking to us.
Following day I came in, fed him some Custard and porridge that had been given to him. Prior to us leaving he falls asleep. The last time I seen him with his eyes open.
Husband goes to visit him. Bed rails are down. There is signs all over his bed space informing everyone that bed rails should be up at all times.
I feel something had been missed here. The lack of fluids. The lack of investigations. The disregard to the bedrails considering he had a serious fall previously. They even stopped writing in his folder as he was deemed no longer a high risk patient. They were initially writing down everything he was eating, how he had been during the day. This stopped very quickly. On one occasion, staff were supposed to feed him his meals but this day I came in to find him covered in soup. They had left him with his tray and he had tried to feed himself, making a mess. Staff informed me they wouldn't have been round to feed him until everyone else had their meals. His food was stone cold and inedible.
I am sorry that this post is a little muddled up and there is so much to it but do you think this is a form of negligence? Should I be taking this further to insure no one else goes through the same thing.
BTW, my Dad died of Pnuemonia (contracted in hospital). I feel like his death could have been prevented.
Thanks