My 96 year old Mum has vascular dementia. Two weeks ago on New Years Day my Mum went into hospital by ambulance. 24 hours later I got a phone call to say she was medically fit and being discharged. I have been in isolation since the beginning of the pandemic due to medical conditions and so mum has a carer. This carer had sent Mum to hospital and then walked out, so she couldn’t go home. They put her in an overflow ward and said they would contact social services. When I found out where my Mum was, as no one had told me, I phoned the ward to see how she was. A Nurse told me she was comfortable and a doctor would see her in the morning. I couldn’t get through to the ward until the following afternoon and when I asked how my Mum was they told me she was fine but hadn’t been eating or drinking. I asked them if they could please try and make her eat, but more importantly get her to drink. They told me, rather abruptly, that they couldn’t force her if she didn’t want to. They knew she had dementia. I asked them what the doctor had said and was told there was no doctor on their ward as it was a Bank Holiday and she wouldn’t see anyone until after that, I told them she had been ill a couple of weeks ago and her GP had prescribed her fluid supplements and could they try those. They said no because they didn’t have access to her records. I asked if they could get her on some IV fluids but they said that was up to the doctor so she’d have to wait. I wanted to talk to my Mum, so she shouted over to someone to get her to the phone. As she got near the phone I heard her say to them, rather weakly, out of breath and sounding very distressed, to please not let her fall again. When I spoke to her she was crying that she wanted to come home and I tried to persuade her to eat and drink to keep her strength up so she could come home but she said she felt sick. They then took her away and by this time I was in a state of shock at how my mother sounded and asked the person on the phone why she was out of breath and she said that’ it was because she has been walking around all day. Following this I was distressed myself as the ward had been so unhelpful and I was worried for my Mum. Not long after this a nurse phoned me and told me a patient in my Mum’s bay had tested positive for Covid so she would have to stay in isolation for 10 days. I then told this nurse about my Mum and her not eating and drinking and she said although she wasn’t on that ward she would look at her notes. She did and said she would make a note on them. In the morning I phoned again and was told she’d had breakfast. That afternoon a doctor phoned me and said that about lunchtime my Mum had been found on the floor with a broken hip and a head injury. He said her breakfast was on the side uneaten. I told him I wanted my Mum off that ward and he said that he didn’t blame me, he wouldn’t want his Mum on there. He put her on I’ve pain relief and she had her operation the next day. I would like to say things have improved for her now on the orthopaedic ward but they haven’t. She has been out of isolation for the past two days but the ward is closed to visitors. She is not doing well and has had to have a blood transfusion and has another infection. When I phoned her she was always distressed but when I phoned a couple of days ago she had a complete breakdown and begged me to get her out of there and started screaming. It was terrible to hear and the ward staff didn’t seem to know what to do. I haven’t phoned since so as not to upset her. I’m really at my wits end. Every day since her operation I have been told a doctor would phone me and they haven’t. She has lost even more weight and again I was told every day that a dietician was going to see her, but I believe she didn’t see them until yesterday. One day I begged to talk to a doctor and the registrar came on and was obviously annoyed at having to talk to me. She told me my Mum was fine and when I told her the nurse had said she wasn’t she got very angry with me and said something to the nurse and then went on about my Mum’s age. Since then the nurses are always busy when I phone and I’m not getting any detailed information. I really don’t know what to do . Although I’m 73 I am usually able to cope with things but feel total despair. Any advice would be gratefully received.