"My father's time in Ellen's Glen hospital"

Nov 2024

My 87 year old Dad,was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease and after 3 months in hospital he was coerced by doctors at the Western General hospital in Edinburgh,where he was content and well looked after,to ship out to Ellen's Glen House for 'End of life ,palliative care.

He asked about St Columba's hospice as it was nearby his house and family but was told by doctors at the Western General that it was only for cancer patients who had weeks to live. This was not true as I rang St Columba's and they said they did accept patients with other conditions who were nearing death but needed a referral from Dad's doctors at the hospital. Clearly that wasn't done.

The nurses at the Western shared with me that they were not happy with the decision to move my Dad out. It seemed it was all about the re beds,not the patient care.

A meeting took place where Dad said the doctor gave him a 'hard sell' on Ellen's Glen, showing him pretty brochures and the next day he was sent there.

I visited him every day he was there including the day of his admission, when he told me he had been 'conned' into going there and was 'in despair'.

The last 3 weeks of my Dad's life were marred with poor personal care and incidents which caused him deep discomfort and distress. For example,he was left sitting with a cloudy ,plastic beaker of water and a straw that did not fit into it,so he could not get a drink.When I arrived he said'I'm dying of thirst I can't get a drink'. He was constantly wanting water and thirsty for the whole time he was there. MND had paralysed his throat and hands but he was left sitting for long periods of time, spitting into tissues with no bin to put them in next to his chair, unable to drink.

His wife's son wrote a 5 page report on problems encountered there to an MND nurse called who was to address the issues. Again,his buzzer not working and causing problems with the toilet, nurses shouting at him, even though my Dad was completely in his right mind and a wonderfully engaging, intelligent man.

It was only in the last week of his life that he was attended to more competently to make his death, rather than his life, easier for him.

Motor Neurone disease is a vile,cruel disease and my Dad bore it with fortitude and courage, but he wouldn't let me speak out on his behalf when he was in Ellen's Glen for fear of reprisals.

I agree with other commentaries on Ellen's Glen hospital, that alot of the nurses are very caring and do their best but looking at past reviews, not much has improved it would appear on basic,rather than palliative care there.

I also personally think there is discord amongst the staff.

Dad was in there for 3 weeks.