"Lack of care"

My daughter had her first child in December 2013. She suffered from pre-eclampsia. She was admitted to hospital just before her due date and told she would be induced if labour hadn't started by her due date. On the evening they were planning to induce her she was allowed to go for a shower, (I say "allowed" because I would have thought a patient with pre-eclampsia would have to be kept a very close eye on). When she returned from the shower her partner was very alarmed to see blood on her face. He quickly alerted the nurses and things became very frantic. Thankfully my grandson was delivered safely. The following morning my daughter was taken for an MRI scan as it seemed she'd had a seizure in the shower before going into labour and had bumped her head. She was told everything was fine and she was allowed home after a few days. When my grandson was 2 months old my daughter mentioned that she'd woken up to find blood on her pillow. She assumed she'd had a bad dream and had bitten her tongue. I thought it best she made an appointment with her GP. The doctor thought she may have had a seizure and advised her to stop driving and not to be alone with the baby. She was put on Sodium Valproate and she had an EEG test and an MRI. I am unsure of exact dates but I think approx. 6 Months later she went to see the consultant expecting to be told this was not epilepsy but was due to the pre-eclampsia she'd suffered. Unfortunately she was dealt another blow when she was told they'd found a brain aneurysm.

She had a tonic clonic seizure in Dec 2015. She was admitted to hospital and allowed home the following day. In Jan or Feb (not sure of exact dates) she was "feeling not quite herself" with headaches most days. She saw a GP who advised her to get an eye test despite being told she'd recently had them tested. I came home from work the following day to find her upset and still not feeling right. Within an hour she'd had a seizure. I called an ambulance and she was admitted to hospital for the night. This seizure lasted more than 20 minutes. She called to say she was allowed home but I was concerned as she had not seen the epilepsy nurse or neurologist and no changes had been made to her medication. I phoned a number I found on the patient opinion website and they were very helpful. By the time I arrived at hospital the epilepsy nurse had been to see her and a plan was made to increase her medication. They also said it may have been a non epileptic seizure. I accompanied her on last appointment to see her consultant and this didn't seem to be an opinion they agreed with and they wanted her to remain on medication and wanted her to have another scan in July to check her aneurysm. They told her if she didn't receive an appointment by then to call their office as they wanted her to have the scan.

Which brings me to why I'm writing to you. She has not received her appointment and despite phoning her consultant the receptionists just want to pass her onto the epilepsy nurse who is also difficult to get hold of. For the last couple of months my daughter has not been feeling very good. The epilepsy nurse asked if she would consider wearing a mobile EEG for 24 hours. She was happy to do so. A couple of days later she had a brief conversation with the epilepsy nurse. They said the EEG was interesting and they would likely be reducing her medication. My daughter took this to mean there were no signs of seizures on the EEG. About a week later on the 10th November she received a call from them saying the results from her EEG showed she was definitely epileptic as it showed she'd had seizures in her sleep and generalised seizures. This has left my daughter feeling very low and me extremely worried. My daughter had an appointment arranged with the epilepsy nurse in December before the results of the EEG were known so I am really concerned that they have not made any arrangements to see her sooner. I am so frustrated and angry at the care she has received and all she has had to endure since the birth of her son.

So as it stands she is still waiting for her scan and although she is not feeling herself she has to wait until December to see anyone.

I have to ask, if she had been more closely monitored when she had him could all this have been avoided?