"£2000 Chair measured and recommended by ward"

56 days the patient lived like a beached whale. How Frustrated do you think the Patient and the Brodie team must have been after this 56-day fiasco? Where is the common sense in management?

We thank all the nursing staff for the extra work that they incurred during the 56 days. 56 Days of purposeful physical discomfort which is torture of the patient.

Please note all departments were well aware of the patient's situation and allowed it to continue for 56 days. All for the sake of 2 X 1" self screw raw plugs and 2 Plastic Top screws. I wish we could print photos as once again this would be self explanatory.

1. New Chair delivered end Sep. On the day it was delivered we both said to staff it was too small and could they monitor the situation. We had an appointment with technician but he had left early.

2.Visited Patient: Phoned relative ,asked the next time they visited could they confirm with me if they thought chair was uncomfortable for the patient. They immediately said yes as a few staff were speaking with them about the Patient being uncomfortable in the chair and it not being fit for purpose.

3. One nurse went as far as saying they would return the chair and ask for the money back

4. Made appointment with the Technician to discuss chair. On the day a nurse said the chair was OK despite other members of their staff saying the chair was not good for the Patient

With that comment from the nurse it then meant I did not have a leg to stand on. The Technician agreed to order a longer base board. On the day, they made an adjustment to the chair.

The Technician recommended a belt to restrain the patient from slipping down in the chair. We all disagreed with this recommendation.

5. A few hours later we had an email from the ward, advising the adjustment the technician made resulted in the base of the chair becoming detached.

We have removed the chair for now as it is unsafe.

As the supplier/technician was taking so long, we asked for help, we put forward ideas to the ward the OT dept, and all our ideas were rejected.

1. Hospital Maintenance at Patient's Expense

2. Joiner at Patient's Expense

3. Anything At Patient's Expense

We were at our wit's end, with no help forthcoming from Brodie management or other departments, and we made sure everyone was aware of the situation.

We kept saying this situation was not good for the patient's health.

56 Days: The patient had access to an outdoor wheelchair and when in use he had to be supervised at all times ,as they rocked back and forth and it was not safe for them to be left alone.

You lowered the patient's bed and provided a crash mat because you knew you had created a scenario, in our mind that was a Health and Safety issue. Sometimes the mat was there and sometimes it was not.

25 Days: Received an email from NHS.

* Contacted ward to gain nursing perspective on what had happened to the chair and concerns regarding chair size.

* I remeasured the patient for the chair as the chair seat's depth appeared too short ( hip to knee). Measurement confirmed this.

*I then contacted supplier to re-confirm measurement I also queried if the cushion back affected the depth of the chair. Supplier have agreed to change the back of the chair at no cost to the lateral back instead (ensures a midline sitting position).

*Supplier informed me that they have contacted the manufacturers regarding the baseboard and are hoping to fast track this. They are replacing this again at no charge under warranty.

33 Days: we received an email from the technician saying they would come to fit the new baseboard.

We as a family decided the chair needed to be fixed so the patient would have a nice festive season.

36 Days without the chair: We went to visit the patient with the intention of fixing the chair. We asked the nurses for the chair.

The Patient was snatching at the chair when it arrived, he would not let go. Obviously the Patient was distressed and wanted to sit on it. I explained to the patient we were taking it away and we would bring it back soon. For the moment the Patient was pacified.

We took the chair to the corridor and a good Samaritan who was passing and extremely qualified helped us put the 2 self screw raw plugs back in the original place where the technician had unscrewed them. To make sure the fixtures were secure we used wooden dowels and a good helping of wood glue, the chair was now fit for purpose.

We wish to thank the good Samaritan for the help that he gave.

I hope there are a few readers that are familiar with DIY to relate to what an easy fix this was.

The chair was pushed back to the ward with me sitting in it to show it was now safe and secure. The Patient was ecstatic and so were we. We all had a lovely, relaxed afternoon. when we left, the staff confiscated the patient's £2000 chair and the Patient was not allowed to use it. They sited Health and Safety reasons.

1 member of staff couldn't understand as the staff had help fix things many times.

Some staff didn't know what all the fuss was about.

56 days later.

Technician arrived with the exact same size of new covered plywood with 4 self screw raw plugs. (2 extra) Technician unscrewed the 2 plastic bolts (not 4) from the base we sorted and screwed them into the new baseboard. To clarify, exactly the same size of baseboard with2 extra self screw raw plugs which are not used.

56 Days and guess what, the chair was still too small..