DF in hospital, we never see the Drs

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

My DF is in hospital having suffered a stroke at the weekend, he is making a good recovery. However my DM and I are frustrated that we never get to speak to a Doctor about the longer term care and medication he will need (it was caused by an irregular heartbeat). This is because visiting hours are not when the Doctors come round. We're worried he will get discharged with a few pills, and not much information. I would add that the care he has had in hospital has been brilliant.

How have other people overcome the "relatives not there when the Dr comes round problem"? We may be worrying unneccessarily of course but would feel a lot better if we could speak to the Dr ourselves.

The only thing you can do is ask the Nurses for as much information as possible. It will be compounded that I guess your DF won't be asking many questions/unable to ask them himself.

We've been in the same position, you just have to hope the nurses have some further information, but they don't always have the detail.

Ask the person in charge of the ward (Sister, usually) to set up an appointment with the consultant in charge of your DF's care. Don't corner a harassed junior dr - they will not know the bigger picture, they are likely to need to be in 25 places at the same time and they are not accountable for care planning.

Sadly, stretched as service are you have to be a creaky gate to get the information you quite rightly want and need.

Nurses can give you a general idea of what follow-up is normally available but again are not the best placed HCP to answer all your questions.

He is likely to need a number of tests re his irregular heartbeat which may be done as an outpatient. Is he on warfarin (blood thinning drug) yet?

You do not have to accept discharge until you are satisfied.
Be nice, but assertive.

DF is regaining his speech and seems to understand everything. However I know from my own experience as an inpatient that it's tiring and confusing time even if you are much younger and with no damage to your brain. He gets stressed if mum starts asking the nurses questions (he doesn't want a fuss). He is much more tolerant of me fussing than mum though. And yes, the nurses only know about his immediate care needs and generically what might happen later.

So, I'm going in on my own this afternoon. I'll stop at the nurses station on the way in and ask them to arrange for one of us to speak to the consultant. I will write down a list of questions and give a copy to mum and one to Dad.

They have said he will be going on warfarin and aspirin, but hadn't started it yesterday when I was in, he did have clot-busting drugs on admission. From what I have read there are a number of different types of irregular heartbeat and suitable medications, they have also mentioned statins to Dad.

Thank you for your help.

Good news. Dad has just rung Mum and told her that he will be discharged today or tomorrow (he suffered no mobility difficulties) and that we will be given an appointment for follow up with the consultant next week to which we can all go. We will get all the details then. And another follow up the week after. I will double check all this later when I go in, but it sounds promising.

Oh good, I am glad to hear all of that.
I hope you get all the answers/explanations you need to be confident in your DF's care and follow up.

He's home. Both speech and occupational therapy have been in touch today to say they will see him next week, he's got an outpatient appt for Weds with the stroke team to include further tests on his heart and all his meds and instructions. We've got all the phone numbers too. Feeling much happier tonight.