He was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in his mouth at QEUH Glasgow in July this year and everything moved very fast after diagnosis. He had a lengthy op, and throughout the whole process (diagnosis, pre-OP, post-OP, to discharge) he and the family were treated with dignity and respect by every single member of staff we came across. They kept us fully informed and were very approachable and honest which we really appreciated. He was discharged to home with the support of district nurses, homecare and we his family. Again, the service was faultless.
Whilst we have almost overall had a fantastic service, there are a couple of areas we have found difficult. Firstly, we have twice had an issue with the GP surgery issuing for notes and referring us back to the hospital, even though he had been discharged and we passed on the discharge letter to the GP. On the 2nd occasion, the receptionist advised that as the GP hadn't seen my dad they couldn't confirm he was unfit for work. They refused to arrange a home visit to assess (I understand this, but he was housebound). Also as the district nurses were visiting on a regular basis to assist with tracheostomy and peg feeding care, they would have been able to discuss with gp to confirm he indeed is far from ready to be able to work. But the receptionist told us to contact the hospital and refer them to DWP guidelines re issuing of fit notes. The hospital in fairness did so, and lo and behold, the GP was indeed responsible for issuing the fit note. We were round in circles before getting this resolved.
The second, more worrying issue we had was my father's peg feed became blocked due to a granulated antibiotic and after myself, the district nurse, and the Abbott nurse all trying to clear the blockage, it was confirmed he would need the tube changed. As it hadn't been in place for 12 weeks the Abbott nurse confirmed this would have to be done at hospital but there were limited people who would be able to do this. After establishing that there is a head/neck unit at Monklands DGH, we thought they would assist but were told they were unable to and referred us to a&e. By this stage, my father had been without pain relief or peg feed for over 20hrs. Only by contacting Rosemary at Wishaw General (who was at the day unit) were we able to be given an appt for 2hrs later and Rosemary indeed changed the tube for us. She was more than helpful, but agreed that it was surprising that my dad could not have been seen and dealt with at the head and neck unit at Monklands. The whole situation was stressful for us and him, and also painful for him not being able to have any medication.
I would like clearer guidelines on who we should turn to for urgent assistance with peg feeding at a local hospital.
"Services provided to my father"
About: General practices in Lanarkshire General practices in Lanarkshire Lanarkshire Community Services / Community Nursing Service Lanarkshire Community Services Community Nursing Service Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Glasgow Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Glasgow Glasgow G51 4TF University Hospital Monklands University Hospital Monklands Airdrie ML6 0JS University Hospital Wishaw / Day Surgery University Hospital Wishaw Day Surgery ML2 0DP
Posted by Mary5678 (as ),
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