Dad

[maria29al]

My Dad went into a Nursing Home in March after spending 4 months in hospital. After a few days at the Home they told us he has MRSA. (he had a gammy eye and they had taken a swab). When he was in the hospital I asked the staff about his eyes (weeks before he was transferred to the Home)...whether he had an infection and they dismissed my worries and told me it was just coz he was sleeping so much!!! They even let me bathe his eyes! I have since complained to PALS and now have a meeting set up with the Ward Matron, PALS and I think the Senior Sister on the ward next Friday....
Does anyone have any words of wisdom for me to take to the meeting...how should I approach this?...what do I expect them to do?....Dad is very ill now and hasnt got long and the MRSA is preventing me from being as close as I would like to him...I work as a chef and my hands are full of small cuts and burns.,..hazard of the job...dont want to wear gloves as that would seem so cold towards the man I love so much...it is wrecking what is possibly the last few weeks I have with him....should I say the words "compensation"??????...negelct??????...not sure how much of my anger and pain I can voice to be honest.....

M
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[Norman]

Hi Maria
I am a little bit confused.
Did the hospital discharge Dad to the nursinghome knowing he had MSRA?
Was the diagnosis made at the nursing home,if so are they sending him back to hospital?
Norman

 

[Margarita]

I thought so . So had a look on 30-03-2006, 08:46 AM you posted a thread about how you was worried about your dad eye.
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/talkingpoint/discuss/showthread.php?t=3080
I don’t blame youu for being so anger if I was you hold your temper & go for

compensation"??????...negelct??????...

Both I would say .

There a lady at mum care home that has it in her ear . I Could not believe it when care worker told me, that what was wrong with her ear . she has it covered & get it clean ever week at the hospital

 

[maria29al]

The hospital discharged him to the Home apparently not knowing he had it..they hadnt taken any swabs to see if his eyes were infected...it was the Nursing Home who took the swabs and got them tested.

They are treating it at the home...he has to have 3 clear swabs apparently!

His eyes look clear of all the nasty gunky stuff now and he can open hsi eyes with no problems now....thank goodness.

M

 

[Kathleen]

Hello Maria

Your Dad has been badly let down by the hospital on this one, thank goodness for alert staff at the nursing home.

To have a productive meeting with the staff at the hospital, I suggest you write down the sequence of events at the hospital....when you first mentioned the problem with his eyes, who you spoke to and what they said etc. Maybe the nursing home could also give you a written statement of what they did to put things right for him.

Of course you should tell them your emotions in all this too, they are part and parcel of what has happened as a result of their lack of action, tell them you are angry, upset and risked contracting MRSA yourself as a result of their actions.

If all else fails, the local press may well be interested in your story, if only to ensure this experience brings changes to the way others in the hospital are treated to ensure this never happens again.

You and your Dad are not to blame for any of the things that happened, someone else is and they are accountable, you need answers and it is up to them to provide them.

Good luck to you and best wishes to your Dad, he must be a lot more comfortable now.

Kathleen

 

[Norman]

....should I say the words "compensation"??????...negelct??????...not sure how much of my anger and pain I can voice to be honest.....

Hi Maria
I agree with Kathleen that you should make a list of the whole saga and have your questions to hand.
You need to contact PALS,there will be details of it in the hospital ,and they can handle the complaint in the early stages.
You want the hospital to put in place procedures to ensure that this does not haappen to any patients in the future.
You want an apology and to be notified what action has been taken.

Contact your local PALS by:

phoning your local hospital, clinic, GP surgery or health centre and ask for details of the PALS
phoning NHS Direct on 0845 46 47
search the Office Directory on the PALS Online website (link below)
Hope this is helpful
Norman

 

[maria29al]

Thanks for the advice. I am actually doing all this through PALS who have been wonderful. The trouble is I cant remember dates etc as at the time I didnt feel I would need to know in the future.

PALS asked me the seame thing and I had to guess a date....all very appproximate.

But I will go along on Friday armed with all my questions etc and all your advice and let you all know how it went.

Hugs
M
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