My mum fell and fractured her hip in August this year. She was 81 years old and the first time she had ever been in hospital was when she was 74. My mum was a very independent lady. She retired at 74, lived on her own in her own house, done all her own housework and took care of all of her personal care. She really was as a sharp as a tack.
Mum seemed to sail through the op and as she had severe arthritis she made good progress albeit her mobility wasn’t great.
After approx. 7 days she was transferred to Ward 3 of the Larkfield Unit. Initially we thought this would be good for her and we would have her home in a couple of weeks.
Things started happening to my mum and we were never sure what was happening as my mum was becoming very confused which was totally out of character.
One one occasion one of the other patients reported to us that a nurse had shouted at her because she pressed the buzzer as she was needing to go to the loo. She had waited for over an hour for someone to respond to her buzzer and the person who did then had the cheek to shout at her.
She then developed a UTI and put on IV antibiotics. This caused delerium and my mum was all over the place and the staff just treated her as a nuisance. She was really frightened and got so desperate that one night she called the police. Not once during this time did anyone pay attention to her mental state.
On another occasion my mum was having severe pains in her stomach and she was crying and felt she had soiled herself. Two nurses came to check on her and said there was nothing there. Only when my sister went to find a nurse did two other nurses come and discovered that my mum was severely constipated.
We phoned the consultant and had a long chat about mum’s care. We told them everything that had been happening especially around lack of communication. Not once did anyone tell us that mum wasn’t eating or that she had been refusing her meds.
One afternoon my sister received a call to say that mum had a non-responsive event. I asked the nurse what that meant and was told they were treating it like no more than a fainting spell. The consultant told us the next day that my mum had been seriously ill and it was not a fainting spell. It was only when I read through her discharge notes did we find out this was Urosepsis which is a medical emergency and potentially fatal.
Another UTI occurred, more antibiotics and delerium and yet again no one addressed her mental health.
After a long 8 weeks, tearful journeys home after having to leave my mum in that place we got her home.
Her mental health was so bad that she put her collar up when in the ambulance because she was worried that they would see her and come and take her back. She told us she had escaped from jail but was so frightened to be on her own and had to have someone there 24hours per day just in case they would come and take her back. When I suggested going out she said no as she was scared someone would grab her and make her go back. She is so traumatised by the whole episode, I don’t know if my mum will ever be the strong independent lady she once was.
I could go on and on about the things that’s happened. What disgusts me most is that we gave you our much loved, very much independent mum to help her get back on with her life after a fall and you sent us back a very frail and frightened old lady who can’t even feel safe and secure in her own home.
Mum has subsequently been re-admitted to IRH with Urosepsis and low haemoglobin. The staff nurse on her current ward mentioned today about moving her to the Larkfield Unit and we have had her notes marked that under no circumstances should my mum ever be transferred to this unit again. The staff nurse has said this is ok and won’t be transferred against the family wishes which we were so relieved about. Tell me how this can happen? Tell me how we get my mum back to how she was and reverse all of the damage done. This is not treatment.
Staff attitude
Treatment
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