"My husbands experience last Christmas"

My husband has dementia and last Christmas was in the Royal with pneumonia which involved a horrendous wait in A&E. He was in again 3-4 months ago with a urinary tract infection and very low blood pressure. A few days before his admission he had been in A&E again 7. 5 hours, a nightmare. The person behind them had been vomiting and had a bowl of smelly vomit which she wasn’t allowed to get rid of until a doctor had seen it. We had to just sit there with the smell. He was sent home afterwards.

A few days later he was more unwell. I called the GP practice but the reception said that the appointments were all gone and that I should have called at 8: 30. He hadn’t been that ill then. The dementia navigator from Mossley Hill called and when I told her she called the GP and got us an appointment. He was admitted to hospital by ambulance. The paramedic came first and then the ambulance to convey him. They were excellent.

He was taken into MAU at the Royal and was there 5 days. The staff there were lovely. In the early hours after he got there he was asleep still holding my hand and a member of staff told me it might be a good idea to go home and get some sleep. He reassured me that I could trust them with my husband. Going out of the hospital at 3: 30am was daunting. A policeman was dealing with an aggressively drunk woman. A young man approached me. I was that shaken that the taxi driver had me sit in the front seat with him and saw me into my accommodation.

The MAU staff were lovely. One in particular was a real star. She would get down to look my husband in the eye and talk to him directly which so many people don’t. If there was a question he was hesitant over she would look at me and I reassure him that he knew the answer. I can’t fault the staff at all. Sean the Royal’s dementia lead is excellent and his work has made so much difference to dementia care. The wards that people with dementia are most likely to be on are well trained and aware now. Very impressed!

On the day he was coming out of hospital I got a call to say that I could collect him anytime from 12. I came in at 12, got him dressed and ready to go. A nurse saw and asked why, I said he was going home, The nurse said he’s not ready. I said yes he is I’ve just got him dressed. The nurses explained that there were no meds ready and to wait. At 2pm I told my friend who had brought me there, to go home. Later they said it would take until 5pm. I had an appointment. The staff reassured me that he would be safely conveyed home. He arrived back at 7pm with the Patient Transport service who were lovely, made such a fuss of him, treated him like he was the only person. But the only meds he brought back were paracetamols and 3 doses of his existing tablets – all of which we had at home. If I had known that was all it was I could have brought him home without them.

Posted by Healthwatch Liverpool on behalf of service user.