"Let down in our time of need"

My elderly Dad was discharged from ARU4 in March.  Nursing staff lovely and caring. Lack of a plan for my Dad from medics. He had a fall in March and fractured a rib: A and E sent him home rather than admit . He was eventually admitted by GP a week later as he has quickly deteriorated functionally, mentally and has a complex medical history along with ongoing outstanding urgent diagnostics awaited. As such, his GP admitted him for all of this to be “ pulled together “ in more of a joined up way and co-ordinated from one place, and, hopefully for some answers and a care plan put in place.  It was not.

He was admitted one evening  and discharged by lunch time next day and we were no further forward. He developed delirium and a fever shortly after he got home. He is now on antibiotics after the GP saw him at home urgently. There was also no immediate Discharge Letter for the GP to see post discharge and we didn’t get one either.  His family are nursing him at home and we are monitoring him as he may deteriorate. Prior to admission we sat in the Immediate Assessement Unit for 6 hours. Individuals working in the hospital are generally caring and helpful however the system is clearly broken in places and, decisions are counter productive at times. Unknown if these decisions are driven by management due to lack of beds or poor clinical decision making due to extreme pressures.

As a family, we feel that the co ordination of his medical assessment, needs and care plan was in fact non existent and that he was not medically stable when he was discharged as evidenced by his infection and delirium. Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Glasgow did in fact let my Dad down in his time of need.