Hospital experiences?

kanjji

Registered User
Dec 15, 2007
12
0
Glasgow
Hi everyone, hope you are all doing well. I was wondering if anyone could share their experience of care received by your loved one in hospital. On December 29 my gran was admitted to hospital after suffering 7 seizures in a row at home. We were told she was dehydrated, though this wasn't the reason for the seizures. She was placed on a ward and put on a drip. All was ok for 2 days, when we went in the nurses said she had been fine and she wasn't to distressed. Things have , however, taken a turn for the worse. We found out that firstly she hasn't slept since being admitted and is now refusing all food and fluids. She became agitated and so started to 'pace' the ward endlessly. She then had a fall and since has had a one to one 24 hour nurse whenever possible. When we went in for evening visiting last night we could hear her screaming and crying for help from outside the ward. We ran up to find her restrained in a chair and extremely distressed. She had been tilted back in a big chair so her feet were dangling off the floor and a big tray which I can only liken to the sort you get on a babies high chair had been used to keep her in the chair. We found a nurse who insisted that she had only been there for 10 minutes while he took a phone call. We find this hard to believe due to the sheer state she was in when we found her. We have a meeting with her consultant tomorrow who is trying to find her a bed on a phych ward and we will be bringing this up but wondered if this was the norm? It seems unbelievably cruel to do this to some one who was already very distressed and confused and has upset the whole family enormously. Just wondered if the hospital should be doing this? What are your experiences? Thanks in advance for taking the time to read through this long winded rant.
 

TinaT

Registered User
Sep 27, 2006
7,097
0
Costa Blanca Spain
The staff on the EMI ward where my husband is have told me they are not allowed by law to restrain any patient sitting in a chair. Several of the men on the ward are unable to walk unaided and suffer the most awful face injuries when they try to get out of their chairs and fall face down on the floor. I saw one of the patients on the floor in a pool of blood because he had got up from his chair and tried to walk around. I was also told that it is against the law to even put a table in front of a patient with the intent of restraint. It certainly sounds to have been a very cruel and frightening experience for you all and one which should not have happened in the first place. xx TinaT
 

kanjji

Registered User
Dec 15, 2007
12
0
Glasgow
Thanks Tina.I thought this would be the case. If it is not unlawful then it is certainly inhumane. We were told by the nurse that she had been restrained as she was at a high risk of falling, which we know, but before we left the ward we said we would rather she had a fall than be treated in this way. I really can't describe how distressing it was to see her this way.