"Appalling lack of basic care."

Where to begin. My 90yr old dad was a recent inpatient following a fall that resulted in a fractured neck of femur. He was transferred from A&E to ward 15. He had this repaired and after 7 days of limited physio input and lack of essential basic care, he was transferred to a rehab centre, without his consent, or without any discussion with his family. Only by chance did we discover he was being moved when he was seen by a family member who works at the hospital in the discharge lounge. He was described as being confused, but at 90 he is sharper than any of his children.

Things went from bad to worse in the rehab care home, again a complete lack of basic care and physio, and he was continually shouted at for using his call button.

I ended up showering him as it was 2 weeks since he’d had even a proper wash. My dad is used to showering once a day.

He ended up with a urine infection and was transferred back to A&E at Good Hope. He was kept there on IV antibiotics for another 4 days when he was discharged to his own home as we insisted he was not to go back to the rehab home.

It was 2 days later when we removed his dressing to discover he still had clips on his wound, 16 days after his procedure, with no plan to remove these, and not even referred to in his discharge letter. I had to call in to his GP practice to get a clip remover in order to remove these. He was using a frame in hospital and was not even discharged with a frame, even though he needed one.

I am a surgical lead nurse, so I’m fully qualified to comment on the lack of care, and was also able to care for my dad when he was so badly let down. I would hate to think how someone else would have faired, probably not made it out as they would’ve given up hope.

This hospital is broken, and needs an urgent review into its practices. Older people could be returned home to their own homes much quicker with a better level of care, no wonder the hospital has the reputation of NO HOPE!!