"My mums journey through the NHS system"

My mum who was 93 had a lot of challenging health issues. As a result of these she had a heart attack and was admitted to hospital and it was decided that she was to receive only conservative management.

From this point onwards she was treated as a number  and not a person. Sadly to me, ageism is more apparent and I felt there was an emphasis is on slapping my mother with a DNR because of her age.. 

I queried the DNR and was told it was nothing to do with family or my mum, that we had no say or input in this decision.

I then requested a referral to SALT due to major swallowing issues which had become extremely bad since her heart attack. Again this was dismissed saying they wouldnt come. This referral could possibly have identified another health incident which could have been dealt with and saved mum distressing days ahead.

So by now things were adding up. Next thing was I came at visiting to find mum very confused and was told by patients in her room she had been like that all night shouting on me.

I immediately went out to speak to the nurse in charge of her who only the day before had commented how mentally aware my mum was, so you can understand how confused I was that by this afternoon she hadnt noticed a decline in mum. I asked for infection screen and after being commenced on antibiotics she improved quickly.

Fast forward through the year where mums conditions were not being dealt with and she had lost most of her mobility due to excess fluid etc etc.

We battled through the system being dismissed. 

She was admitted to a supposed specialist elderly unit in one Lanarkshire hospital where nothing was dealt with and she was promptly discharged in the same condition as she was admitted ignoring renal anaemia  and excessive oedema.

After another disturbing period of time things deteriorated and again it was decided to admit her again. Thankfully this time she was diverted to Monklands hospital.

On arrival she was promptly admitted to A&E then transferred up to ward 14 Frailty.

Within 24 hrs the consultant , Dr McCann, had discussed things with me in detail and put into motion a care action to try and resolve the issues. She assessed my mum as a person and not a number giving her holistic care. Only a few hours later mum was transferred to the renal department under Dr Couslands care.

Within the weeks she was there she lost 2 stone of fluid alone her anaemia was dealt with and all the other ailments were under referral.

I can't thank both these Doctors enough for their compassionate and exceptional care. My mum when discharged regained mobilty which meant she could start walking outside again and attending her clubs. She had been socially isolated for months and being very mentally aware this was devastating to watch. These Doctors gave me back my mum even though she passed away months down the line.

After this experience I'm left thinking treating patients as individuals is sadly lacking now and we are put in an age box and written off.

I would challenge other Lanarkshire hospitals to take a hard look at themselves and re evaluate their delivery of care. They could learn so much from Dr McCann and Dr Cousland .

Its been a hard path to follow and frustrating to see how care has deteriorated within the NHS. As a retired NHS employee I was shocked and frustrated by what I came up against. I felt a lack of patient cantered care with prescribing etc taking presidency over basic nursing care. You cannot prescribe treatment if you don't physically care for a person.

So a big shout out to Monklands hospital for restoring my faith in what is still achievable.