"A tale of two wards"

Its not often that I would feel the need to express an opinion about the standards of care provided in the NHS and in general I think that we are in a very fortunate position to have free healthcare available to all in this country and overall the NHS staff do a great job given the constraints that they are working within.

Having said that I feel compelled to highlight the situation at Hairmyres hospital and the experience that we have had with my mother over the last 3 weeks of care at the hospital.

I wont go into the A&E waiting times as everyone knows the pressure the teams are under there and that its not a problem we seem capable of fixing.

My mother was admitted with a combination of symptoms 3 weeks ago and after a few tests and a short stay in Ward 3, which was great, she was moved to Ward 15 "rehabilitation" ward in preparation for discharge, at this point the doctors thought the symptoms unconcerning and not serious enough for further investigation it seems.

Arriving at Ward 15 to visit we are met by a secured and locked ward with no entry or exit without a staff member, which is fine as many geriatric patients will wander off, and on first impression the ward seemed fine.

However, the standard of care provided to mother, who has vascular dementia resulting in short term memory problems and confusion, was frankly unacceptable. Multiple times we visited, and her medication was sitting on the table in front of her not having been taken as we informed the staff, she needs to be both prompted and monitored on meds. We pointed this out to staff repeatedly, but it continued.

Also, they were not caring for her personal hygiene adequately as the condition she was admitted with meant she was experiencing incontinence of both types and the dementia was compounding this situation. On more than one occasion we found my mother dirty and distressed having tried to deal with the situation herself in the bathroom and wash clothes in a very weak and confused state. 

Her bedding had clear signs of fouling that had not been dealt with and there was clearly a general lack of attention and concern for her wellbeing. The staff seemed to change daily and there didn't seem to be a clear order of management of care. This ward seems to be like a low maintenance waiting room for discharge when home care is arranged not providing any high standard of medical care.

When she was discharged, against our advice, my mother was only at home for less than 24 hours before our GP called an ambulance to re-admit her.

After many hours of waiting in the ambulance outside A&E, 6 hours minimum, she was assessed and readmitted the next day. After a brief period in a holding ward she was admitted to ward 14 where she remains.

The Ward 14 staff, doctors and ancillary staff are like a breath of fresh air compared to ward 15, everything they do is caring, efficient and aimed at providing older patients with the dignity and respect you would hope for and more.

They closely monitor my mother and each of them has a good idea of what care she is receiving and what treatments have been done and the plan going forward. SO much better.

Unfortunately, mum has now after 2 weeks of medical care finally got CT scans back that confirm she has terminal cancer which has been causing most of her symptoms and she has only a few months left.

The doctors, nurses and staff at Ward 14 are outstanding and we cannot praise them enough for their care. On the other hand, Ward 15 is in clear need of intervention and frankly the levels of care there are not just lacking but in my opinion a danger to the patients. My mother should never have been discharged it is clear but closer attention to care in ward 15 would have prevented further distress and pain.

I do apologise for the length of this story but I felt something had to be said.