Mum's admission has been crazy so far, for the background read "six hours for an ambulance" in the Tea-room.
On my previous thread I did not mention that once when I visited MUm she was sat in a wet nightie where she had tried to pour some water, The fact she would probably not have realised she was then supposed to drink it is by the by. Nor did I mention that her food intake chart has not been filled in for yesterday,or that her arms and legs have felt constantly cold to the touch despite me taking in two fleeces for her. So to this morning, about 8.10 I had a call to tel me Mum had fallen out of bed in the night they thought she may have hit her head so were taking her for a CT scan. On her records I had seen a risk assessmnet saying she was at risk of falling out of bed and should be considered for a low level bed. When she came back from the scan I felt they were obviouly panicking because they bought her back with a special warm air blanket thing on her, and found her a hi-lo bed really fast. I was still angry though my husband went to see the hospital social workers they asked me what I wanted them to do and I said assure me that my Mum will be safe. The SW said I appeared to be scared to leave my Mum I said of course I was so far it was clear they were making inadequate efforts to feed her and had allowed her to fall out of bed. I felt (and feel) I need to be there to look after her. I said I would like bed rails or my Mum's bed put against a wall.They asked me why I thought that would help and I said as there are two sides to a bed it would reduce the risk of a fall by 50%! Then they said they are not allowed to do that anyway. One of the nurses was telling me Mum is getting the best possible care and she could only work within
the guidelines they are given, I said I just didn't understand why no dementia patient is allowed bed rails as they are all different, she was asking what I had a prolem with. I said my Mum's safety and she said she had explaiined and Mum was getting the best care, I also said I was worried Mum was not eating when I was not there her notes said she was refusing food but I was ableto feed her . The nurse said they always make time to feed people who need help, which makes what happened later very sad. I said I was too emotional to discuss it and would come back to it ianother time, but she kept asking why I had a problem. In the end I said I did not beleive in abuse of NHS staff and had no desire to be accused of being abusive in case they stopped me seeing Mum and I was going back to see her, which I did.
Dinner was served very early about 11.45 there wasn't much of a choice for people who might be slow eaters, or particulalry weak like Mum but there was chocolate pudding with custard and I got her to eat a whole bowlful! Another elderly lady had a nurse sit iwth her and tell her she had to eat of she would not get well, she needed vitamins etc. I think she offerd the lady one or two mouthfuls but the old lady said she did not like it and twenty minutes later the meals was removed untouched - I know there were serious concerns about how much this pateint had yesterday and that as in my Mum's case viistors she had yesterday afternoon actually managed to get her to drink a fortisip! God knows I don't think Mum will have another bite to eat or drink unitl I go in again tomorrow. I normally trumpet the NHS for all I'm worth but this is a diabolical situation and a massive illustration of the poor care that sometimes exists in hospitals. The latest thing is that I had a call late this afternoon telling me it will be at least Sunday before my Mum is moved to the local dementia ward!
Weeks ago my uncle was in this same hospital and suffered similarly poor care being sat by a window with a broken blind when the weather was hot, being sat on a chair with no wings even though he could not sit up straight alone, and again with issues surrounding feeding.
I'm not sure where to take this yet we have already instigated a complaint into the length of time the ambulance took
On my previous thread I did not mention that once when I visited MUm she was sat in a wet nightie where she had tried to pour some water, The fact she would probably not have realised she was then supposed to drink it is by the by. Nor did I mention that her food intake chart has not been filled in for yesterday,or that her arms and legs have felt constantly cold to the touch despite me taking in two fleeces for her. So to this morning, about 8.10 I had a call to tel me Mum had fallen out of bed in the night they thought she may have hit her head so were taking her for a CT scan. On her records I had seen a risk assessmnet saying she was at risk of falling out of bed and should be considered for a low level bed. When she came back from the scan I felt they were obviouly panicking because they bought her back with a special warm air blanket thing on her, and found her a hi-lo bed really fast. I was still angry though my husband went to see the hospital social workers they asked me what I wanted them to do and I said assure me that my Mum will be safe. The SW said I appeared to be scared to leave my Mum I said of course I was so far it was clear they were making inadequate efforts to feed her and had allowed her to fall out of bed. I felt (and feel) I need to be there to look after her. I said I would like bed rails or my Mum's bed put against a wall.They asked me why I thought that would help and I said as there are two sides to a bed it would reduce the risk of a fall by 50%! Then they said they are not allowed to do that anyway. One of the nurses was telling me Mum is getting the best possible care and she could only work within
the guidelines they are given, I said I just didn't understand why no dementia patient is allowed bed rails as they are all different, she was asking what I had a prolem with. I said my Mum's safety and she said she had explaiined and Mum was getting the best care, I also said I was worried Mum was not eating when I was not there her notes said she was refusing food but I was ableto feed her . The nurse said they always make time to feed people who need help, which makes what happened later very sad. I said I was too emotional to discuss it and would come back to it ianother time, but she kept asking why I had a problem. In the end I said I did not beleive in abuse of NHS staff and had no desire to be accused of being abusive in case they stopped me seeing Mum and I was going back to see her, which I did.
Dinner was served very early about 11.45 there wasn't much of a choice for people who might be slow eaters, or particulalry weak like Mum but there was chocolate pudding with custard and I got her to eat a whole bowlful! Another elderly lady had a nurse sit iwth her and tell her she had to eat of she would not get well, she needed vitamins etc. I think she offerd the lady one or two mouthfuls but the old lady said she did not like it and twenty minutes later the meals was removed untouched - I know there were serious concerns about how much this pateint had yesterday and that as in my Mum's case viistors she had yesterday afternoon actually managed to get her to drink a fortisip! God knows I don't think Mum will have another bite to eat or drink unitl I go in again tomorrow. I normally trumpet the NHS for all I'm worth but this is a diabolical situation and a massive illustration of the poor care that sometimes exists in hospitals. The latest thing is that I had a call late this afternoon telling me it will be at least Sunday before my Mum is moved to the local dementia ward!
Weeks ago my uncle was in this same hospital and suffered similarly poor care being sat by a window with a broken blind when the weather was hot, being sat on a chair with no wings even though he could not sit up straight alone, and again with issues surrounding feeding.
I'm not sure where to take this yet we have already instigated a complaint into the length of time the ambulance took
) and a few sips of fresh pineapple juice. 
