"Communication between teams and with patients"

My dad is almost 80 & had two complex heart surgeries last year at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, Clydebank, Scotland, which we have been told were successful. 

Following these surgeries, he became very breathless & he was told that there were traces of Asbestos damage in his lungs (he can’t work out where he would have had prolonged exposure), as well as pleural effusions - this testing was done at Glasgow’s Royal Infirmary, where they drained the effusions and did some sort of testing on the fluid in September - we have never received any results from this. 

The respiratory team at the Royal Infirmary then referred my dad to the Pleural team at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow. Meanwhile, he was referred back to the heart team with suspected heart failure - this was negated. He saw the Pleural team at the Queen Elizabeth, where he was told that for them to move forward with taking a biopsy, he would have to come off his blood thinner meds for his heart. They apparently asked the heart team at the Jubilee about this, but were told that my dad would need more time on the blood thinners. He returned to Stobhill Hospital, where he was put on a heart monitor for 24 hours. We have never received any results from this monitoring, nor does his GP have access to this information.

Since then, my dad’s quality of life has worsened to the point that he can barely leave the house. He is breathless and has chest pain just taking a shower. His GP referred him back to be admitted to the Queen Elizabeth  because they felt that he was too unstable to be at home. Yesterday I managed to contact the secretary of the Pleural team, and advocated for one of their doctors to see my dad today. My dad was meant to be seen by them at their clinic - talking to the doctor today, it became clear that his case had not been looked at since December - my dad would have gone to the clinic to be told that his case had not been advanced in any way, and that he would need to wait to be told whether he could come off the blood thinners. 

My dad’s case is horribly worrying - it seems that his case is being ping-ponged between teams of specialists who are not taking the necessary steps to help him. I do not believe there is anything meditated or malicious in this, they just don’t seem to have the time. I am glad that he is back in hospital, where I am advocating for him to stay until he has been offered some sort of satisfactory explanation as to what exactly is happening with his lungs. The lack of communication between teams AND with the family is shocking. We literally have no idea what his diagnosis or prognosis is, and we feel completely helpless and disempowered. If anyone can do anything to help, we would be so grateful.