"Care of the Elderly and Family Liason"

My father was admitted to Daisy Hill Hospital with an infection. He had been an inpatient in Female Medical for 4 weeks before we arrive at the door one day to be told we cannot enter due to a C-Diff outbreak. We understand for infection control purposes visitors cannot attend and that is not an issue. However, rules to not apply to some as the do others. The communication regarding and with our isolated family member is extremely poor.

His elderly wife attends the corridor outside the ward to provide clean clothes etc but struggles to be provided with updates from anyone and the ward phone is never answered.

My father suffers from confusion and is awaiting a dementia diagnosis so we have no idea of his current condition or how distressed he is with no family visits for six days.

On a number of occasions, we have witnessed patients coming in and out of the ward, including elderly and clearly at risk patients with nothing said. It is incredibly frustrating that some patients are allowed to socialise, as that increases the infection risk for our father.

There is no family communication and concerning an elderly man who is not fit to communicate with us or make any decisions, this is incredibly concerning. Any time we do get a rare opportunity to speak to someone, we are made to feel like a burden and a hassle and get no answers.

A staff member had my elderly mother in tears yesterday, when she is simply frustrated at the situation and the lack of ability to communicate at all with her husband.

During his stay there have been some wonderful members of the healthcare team, including a nurse who really advocated for him, however the situation has rapidly deteriorated and we feel completely ignored, worried and heartbroken that we cannot find any information regarding my father’s condition.

A few minutes a day regarding an update is all we ask, especially with his regular falls as an inpatient history. The system is broken when a family who wants to advocate for someone’s health is made to feel like a burden.