My grandmother suffers with advanced Dementia and was admitted to hospital following a fall at night and subsequent long lie. She was kept in the A and E department for 12-14 hours and moved to the medical assessment unit at around 9pm in the evening. The staff were not aware of any of her medical history, I advised them of this and completed a 'this is me' dementia profile so that staff could better understand my grandmothers needs and wishes as she was unable to express them for herself. The following day we visited her and she had been moved to a different room on the same unit and was very unwell. She was very sleepy and unresponsive except to pain and she was not being given regular pain medication despite this being requested more than once by family members.
She was very unwell for 3 days and we were unsure if she would survive. there was a total lack of communication from medical staff and lack of interest in speaking to family members. Eventually she turned a corner and started to get better. However during her two week stay at EDGH my grandmother who as I mentioned has advanced dementia was moved four times to different wards, she requires constant supervision which was not available, staff did not read her care plan, she is vegetarian and was given cottage pie to eat despite the sign above her bed clearly stating she was vegetarian. Despite the 'This is me' profile being available staff did not read it as no one seemed to know anything about her. She was left in bed for days due to staff shortages impacting her mobility. Details of long term medical conditions were not handed over to each shift or ward change which also had a negative effect on the management of this (even now months later).
The HCA's on the dementia ward my grandmother was briefly on were rude and inappropriate to patients in their care and often stood in the corridors looking at their mobile phones whilst the RN's were running around working. Maybe staff re training was needed.
As a family we did not trust that my grandmother was safe or well cared for in the hospital environment which is not how it should be at all.
"My grandmother's recent hospital stay"
About: Eastbourne District General Hospital / General medicine Eastbourne District General Hospital General medicine BN21 2UD
Posted by Sassy1 (as ),
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