"Incorrectly told the appointment would be cancelled"

My father was a patient on 2North following a cancer diagnosis. Initially he had been treated quite well. He had several admissions in and out 2North throughout his illness.

On one occasion, he was placed in a female bay as there were no male beds left. A screen was pulled around him and kept around him for 48hours. When nurse call bell was rang, it was rarely answered without a sarcastic comment, this was on one occasion witnessed by my sister. They seemingly forgot about him at mealtimes, his bed was not changed in days, his phone charger was lost.

He was to attend a pre-booked procedure on the Wednesday morning, this was arranged prior to admission on the previous Monday, I was present for these arrangements, as were members of staff. The day before the procedure a nurse told him it was no longer going ahead, the reason for which was never explained. My father phoned me to inform me of this. When I contacted the ward for an explanation, this nurse was apparently on their tea break on every attempt, (6 times throughout the afternoon in fact). When I did eventually get them, they said they didn't know why it was cancelled but would find out and let me know the reasoning. By 8pm they never returned my call and seemingly had another 3 tea breaks as this was why they  couldn't take any of my further calls.

At the change of shift I was on the phone to my father and advised him to ask the night nurse why his pre arranged procedure was no longer going ahead. They said because someone needed the appointment more than him (more than a man given months to live). I was still on the telephone line at this stage and heard this comment myself.

Upon trying to contact the ward again I got no answer or was told again the nurse dealing with dad was on another tea break. The next morning at 7am, I contacted the senior member of staff present for the booking of this procedure, they reassured me that they believed the procedure would go ahead and they would find out why my father was misinformed of this. Upon their call back they advised they had spoken to ward staff who said dad was confused the day before and was never told the procedure was cancelled, even though the first nurse told me on the phone it was and I heard the night nurse's comment also. I asked if my father was confused what was being doing about this? He already had advanced cancer, could it have spread to his brain? Was there a possibility i was also confused? As i could corroborate these comments. The staff member made apologies on behalf of the above mentioned staff and said they would speak to the consultant personally to get to the bottom of the situation. Credit to them, they called me back and advised the procedure would go ahead that day, which it did. 

However no one can explain to our family why my father was put through the stress of being incorrectly told the appointment would be cancelled, with no reasoning, except for that someone needed the appointment more. Where is the respect or dignity for their patient? Where was the person centred care? Where is 2Norths' openness and honesty? I asked a number of staff that day who the 2 nurses looking after my dad were, but no one would tell me. 

2 days after the procedure when my dad was discharged I asked another nurse, who promised me they would find out and would inform me of who the 2 nurses were, but they never did.

We were sent home that day without the medical apparatus required for continued care, even though we asked for it before leaving. We were reassured all was in place with district nursing. Then upon arriving home (1hour away) we received a call from 2 north stating I needed to comeback for the very thing they told us we didn't need.

As well as this, on more than one admission, following cancelled diagnostic exams, a member of staff informed us the ward nurses regularly cancel them as they don't have time to transfer patients to the x ray department for said tests, so nurses tell the x ray department patients are not well enough to attend (this is, of course, hearsay). Where is the trustworthiness? 

As my father would inevitably have had more admissions to 2 North, he never wanted a fuss made of the stress he experienced there. He has since passed away, and I have regularly wondered about and worried for the patients on this ward with no family to speak up for them. Following his passing we received a letter regarding missed 2 appointments, for tests that were dated after his death, this has further lowered my expectations of the SHSCT. I sent emails and letters to the feedback department of Craigavon hospital with no response other than their need for a further 20 working days to review, long after this period communication has ceased. 

It is unfortunate that there are a few members of staff in a department that can influence your feelings towards an entire trust, I find it difficult to understand why some people go into healthcare when they can be so lacking in compassion. I commend the good staff and the great work the do, and hope others do not experience the bad side SHSCT that my Dad did in his final months.