"The care was not person-centred"

I feel embarrassed to admit I work in the NHS. The care I received at Douglas Grant fell short of being person centred and not the standard I expected. I was patronised and made to feel like a toddler. At one I point asked for a cup tea only to be told no , yes it was 0430am, but I had been awake for hours. Being told I could only shower every second day caused me a great deal of distress. When on your period it is hard enough but more complicated with being catheterised. I understand when the ward is full this may have been difficult but at that time the ward only had five patients. I could have a showered at any time. All these little things make a big difference to a patient. Unfortunately, a black cloud outweighed the good, although some members of staff did go above and beyond for you, and were person centred.

From the moment I arrived to being discharged everything seemed like a battle. The expectation of what I thought I was coming to or had been sold to me was very different from the reality. I was told I would be getting intense rehab but half an hour of physio a day is not intense rehab! There was a massive lack of communication and willingness to try anything I suggested.

The first time I met an ANP was because I had a sudden loss of feeling in my right arm and the nerves were playing up. The ANP came in and did a half-hearted neurological exams and declared everything was fine, which was funny as I was in the ward due to a neurological condition.

My second encounter was when I had spiked a temperature. I had been lethargic for 2 days. I am steroid dependent and asked about doubling steroids as per NHS AA sick day rules and I was told this was not necessary and we were waiting for the bloods result. Now I was given this information to follow at home so if I spiked a temperature of 37.5 I should follow the above. My temperature at one point hit 39.4. Now my point being, I would not have access to blood results if I was at home so therefore the rules should have been followed regardless of blood results. I had also mentioned I was short of breath and being a brittle asthmatic who has had multiple HDU admissions. When the ANP listened to my chest and said there was no wheeze, so chest was clear I tried to explain I don’t wheeze but was once again dismissed.

Being a health professional myself I know work can be stressful and everyone can have bad days but the attitudes of some of the nursing staff was truly horrific! Rejecting to prescribe something which is on my regular repeat prescription for eczema and not even coming to discuss their reasoning behind it is definitely not person-centred care. This actually caused me more pain and suffering due to my skin then breaking down.

I was once again not seen by the ANP team over the weekend when I developed a sore throat, hoarse voice which led to me partially losing my voice. They said I was not seen by the ANP’s due to COVID. I find this frustrating, but it also left me in pain where I was barely able to swallow which made taking things orally difficult. Once again this resulted in an infection and left me on IV antibiotics. I was at one point hooked up to an IV when I was in my wheelchair but was left with my buzzer completely out of my reach!!!!

The complete lack of mental health support has also been eye opening. From being told on transfer that there was a plan in place and the MH team knew to expect me. I went from being seen 5 days a week in Glasgow to nothing. I was seen once by psychology and once by psychiatry liaison in an 8 week stay. Just to be told I would be referred to community services. I received a Mental health appointment for April from the community team. When I phoned the CMHT to question this appointment as I was told I would be assessed within two weeks of being home only to be told they never received my referral until the end of January!. The home assessment was a disaster form beginning to end and the discharge planning meeting ,well what can I say. If discharge planning meetings are supposed to be MDTs then I am not sure why I had no consultant or medic present and more importantly no one for the mental health team present.

 

The catering was also appalling. I am dairy free which the catering system seemed unable to cater for. Now with the number of people who have food allergies or follow a vegan diet I find it flabbergasting that a dairy free requirement was so hard to cater for. I was left to have soup twice a day and on numerous occasions my request for a slice of bread was not accepted. One evening I had ordered a particular kind of soup but when dinner arrived I had been given a completely different soup which was unsuitable. When the kitchen was phoned the only alternative, they could offer me was ‘mushy peas! I also felt like my meetings/ ward rounds with my consultant was like banging my head against a brick wall. When discharged home my discharge letter was minimal and inaccurate. My discharge prescription was also incorrect, I feel sorry and embarrassed at how much the system has failed me and continues to fail me at home.