"Mum's forgotten healthcare"

I wrote the below to complain about the poor service my Mother has received from Cornwall NHS - from a multitude of departments and frankly, I really don’t know where to start. I feel like all of my complaints have been completely ignored. I was apologised to (via email), saying a response would come. When I replied to that email the day before the latest date they gave me, they said they would reply at a later date. The below was the complaint and I ask of NHS Cornwall that they have completely failed to respond to. I do not want to go legal, but for my own mental health, this needs to be responded to.

I have asked on a multitude of occasions to ensure that Mum's appointment letters come to me, but nobody seems to be able to action this. I am giving a different method of doing this every time, often passed from person to person, and most recently, someone left an answer phone message asking me to call back and they accidentally left their home number and not a work number. When I spoke with them, they’d told me they’d retired but would still action it. Mum has suffered from a multitude of serious health issues, and currently has all but lost her sight. My sister, who also has power of attorney for my Mother, received a text saying that Mum had missed a vital appointment. We didn't even know there was an appointment. There have been no letters or any form of communication to let anyone know that there was an appointment.

I have explained so many times to NHS staff that this is dramatically affecting my own mental health. Mum has limited vision and cannot see writing on letters. In addition, her long term mental health problems - she was sectioned with schizophrenia and still receives the same medication 20+ years later - means that she throws letters in the bin. My first ask is that letters or communication are made to myself as I am the only person available to take her to appointments as my sister lives far away.

Furthermore, following a recent scan for ovarian cancer, I was told that a safeguarding issue would be raised as Mum was clearly self-neglecting. I was informed her body was covered in faeces, proving she is completely unable to look after her hygiene appropriately or safely. I had a conversation on the phone with a nurse who was present at her scan, which was very promising, in hope that Mum will get the support and help she desperately needs, but as usual, nothing came of this at all.

Mum continues to take medication for a severe mental health problem, during which psychotic episodes were the norm, which led her to be sectioned (section 3) some years ago. As I understand it, Mum should be entitled to an annual review of her health and social care needs under section 117 and this has been overlooked. I also understand that the high dose of her medication means that she should also be eligible for a review of her care needs. She is entirely unable to look after herself, lives in a dirty house, is unable to clean the house, or even wash herself. She is unable to comprehend the seriousness of any of her medical conditions, eating a poor diet despite having diabetes. She is also unable to be trusted to take medication. Her mobility, which has not been good for years, is deteriorating dramatically and she regularly suffers from falls. 

To emphasize the dreadful service that Mum has clearly suffered from, a card was sent to her address from the GP Surgery addressed to my sister and I, saying we are sorry for your loss, as if Mum had died. I don’t even know what to say about this.

It has almost got to a point where I, as her son, feel completely helpless and has almost accepted that I have to watch whilst her mental and physical health deteriorates until she passes away without any chance of associating the last twenty years of her life with the word dignity.

In summary, I feel the following actions should be seen as a priority: -

-Future appointment letters, or at least copies, or texts/emails, should be sent to me;

-Her care needs should be seriously assessed, but with me or my sister present;

-An urgent diabetes appointment should be made and her toenails need to be cut;

-Her surgery should respond to the request for community nurses to help her with eye drops, to enable the surgery that may save her eyesight.

I have had to delete so much of this complaint due to the limit on wording. I am hoping my own desperation is coming over in this letter as you will not only be helping Mum’s physical and mental health, but also that of her wider family.