As some of you may know,my uncle who as SN,including cerebal palsy,spina bifida & learning difficulties.He is also registered blind & deaf.
He has been in hospital for about 6 weeks now & the treatment he has,or rather hasn't recieved has horrified us.He is due to have a catheter removed today & my mum asked if he'd have an anaesthetic.The nurse answered that he probably would,but that 'They don't feel pain like we do,do they?'
Mum was shocked & confused & didn't know what to make of the comment,until she read his notes.The hospital have him down as having Downs Syndrome,which is incorrect,but when my mum told me,we realised why the nurse had said what she did.Apparently there used to be a belief that patients with DS didn't feel pain,but surely in this day an age,that isn't still taught.Or is it?
I am horrified at the thought that someone possibly wouldn't get pain relief,just because of their genetic make up.Can anyone tell me what we sghould do about this?We are going to make a complaint about my uncle's abysmal treatment anyway,but this has made us even angrier than we were before.Perhaps it explains why his treatment has been so,so poor.