"Poor Community Care"

At the beginning of January 2023 my mums carers advised me that whilst drying mum under the tummy fold her skin opened up in a small area and was bleeding. I immediately contacted the GP for advice due to my mum being a vulnerable 86 year old diabetic who has been having ongoing skin issues. I was advised by the receptionist that my mum was to be referred to the local district nurses.

By the following afternoon there was still no contact from the district nurses and the area of skin continued to bleed so I contacted the surgery again where I was reassured the district nurses would definitely visit today as the referral from the GP stipulated a request to be seen before the weekend. So I waited, but unfortunately no one appeared and no one contacted me.

The following morning the carers shouted me in to the bedroom and showed me the change in mums wound, it had now become infected and had a smell from it. It was red and there was pus where the opening was.

I called the Bellshill district nurses number at immediatley and left a message on their answer machine. They called me back and I spoke with a member of staff highlighting the issues. They stated they were not aware of any referral or planned visit to my mum. They further stated that they would have to go to the office and check the referrals and call me back. They failed to call me back as promised.

I contacted NHS24 going through the assessment process where I explained events and the issue I had with mum and voicing my concerns about mum being diabetic. I was advised by the nurse that they were putting in a referral for the district nurse to attend to mum stating you may have to travel for a prescription due to local pharmacies being closed.

At around 4pm a nurse arrived at the house. It was not the district nurse, they had sent a nursing assistant. They stated they didn’t receive any referral from the GP and went on to explain that they couldn’t prescribe an antibiotic and that mum would have to wait till Monday to be seen. The district nurse opted to delegate this task to a member of staff knowing that the intervention required was out-with they role. I believe they instructed the nursing assistant to advise us that mum had to wait till the Monday to be seen.

As a result of this I took a photograph of the wound and I drove to a pharmacy in Motherwell hoping that they could do something through minor ailments. Unfortunately, after viewing the photo the pharmacist stated they couldn’t deal with the issue stating it required an antibiotic and they couldn’t prescribe it referring me back to NHS24.

I again made contact with NHS24 and explained events. The outcome, was a prescription for penicillin which I collected, this was all sorted by 9pm in the evening. 

The service from NHS 24 was first class and thankfully this service eventually resolved the issue.

I don’t believe for one minute that the district nurses never received a referral from the GP. As noted above I had spoken to the GP practice on the Friday and they reassured me the referral went through. To date the service from the GPs at this practice has been exemplary even through COVID. I can’t praise them enough from the receptionists to the GPs themselves.

Where the care failed was with the Bellshill district nurses. Firstly, by failing to respond to the initial GP referral and secondly, the district nurse who was on duty over the weekend failing to call me back after my call on Saturday morning despite advising me they would. Then failing to follow through with the NHS24 referral. This nurse is in breach of their duty of care, which is a legal obligation. They thought it was acceptable to leave my mums care untill the Monday. Despite being made aware of the referral on the Thursday and despite subsequently receiving the NHS24 referral. Fitness to practice is about keeping people safe.

We are reasonable people, if they felt that due to their workload they did not have the time to deal with my mum they should have contacted NHS24 and made them aware of this and passed the referral back.

I’m aware that services are pushed to the limit but that doesn’t detract from the fact that mum required input from a district nurse. It’s no excuse not to provide a service.

All they had to do was lift the phone and speak with me and we could have worked something out with regards to mums care. Unfortunately, they chose not to do this.

At the beginning of the next week the district nurse visited. I explained events and the outcome advising her that mum was responding well to treatment and that I had purchased dressings via the pharmacy and she didn’t require any further intervention.

They advised that they returned from annual leave today to a post-it on her desk asking her to visit this address. They also explained that they cover this area and on their return to the office they planned on looking for mum's initial referral from the GP. They were very pleasant and seemed to care about their job and the patients. They offered to provide more dressings, I had plenty but appreciated the offer.

I’m concerned for other vulnerable people who don’t have people to speak up for them. What happens to them?