"not much"

What I liked

not much

What could be improved

lots

Anything else?

Last week my father-in-law, who is 95, was ordered to PB General for treatment of an ulcerated leg and a wheezing chest. On arrival, he was not sent directly for treatment but to an “assessment” ward (along with several other people, one of whom coughed almost continually) despite the fact that he had already been diagnosed by a GP with more than 25 years of experience. He was not given his prescribed medication, which we had brought with us, until my wife suggested it. He was given an unpalatable meal and left in bed with his street clothes on.

The operation of this ward was the most chaotic and inefficient operation of any sort that I have ever witnessed. Doctors, nurses, assistants and sundry hangers-on milled about talking to each other (lots of this), filling forms and staring vacantly into computer screens. No one seemed to be able to do anything without filling in a form and discussing the matter. Functionaries rolled huge trolleys full of paperwork up and down the hallway. One member of the team spent their time in an office cubicle, shuffling papers, telephoning and other forms of administration. The ambulance crew that brought my father-in-law was made to wait for nearly an hour before someone could be found to “sign off”on him. We were advised at one point that there would be a delay while the “turnover” was in progress. This evolution appeared to last for about an hour.

After nearly five hours in this madhouse, by which time my father-in law was extremely stressed and disoriented, a doctor (some time after 1100pm) came to see him; he was then put into a gown and transferred to another ward, presumably for treatment. However, this confused and vulnerable man was discharged the next day, without treatment, and sent home alone in a minicab. The final insult was that the ward had misplaced the suitcase in which we had brought his personal things, so they came back in a plastic bag. We were phoned later in the week to come and get it