"Non-consulting consultants"

My mentally-disabled mother, who has a DNR notice, went to Airedale A&E, was admitted to the Assessment Ward and then transferred down to Ward 4.

I can't fault the attentive, efficient nursing care she got, or the nursing staff's helpfulness and willingness to impart information.

But the doctors in the various wards do not seem to be singing from the same hymnsheet:

The A&E doctor told us Mum's care would be all about keeping her comfortable, with a view to discharging her back home for palliative care. She made no mention of X-Rays, antibiotics or other treatments.

We agreed wholeheartedly with this approach.

But in the Assessment Ward she was started on antibiotics and given an ECG and X-Rays (she was there with pneumonia so they X-Rayed her hip because one leg looked to be shorter than the other: had they phoned me, I would have told them about her hip replacement, done at BRI).

We struggled to find out why the original instruction was overridden: we made an appointment with the consultant but he failed to keep it, disappearing from the ward without explanation or apology.

His junior doctors were helpful and informative but didn't know why the decision to investigate and treat had been made.

You get better service from the garage fixing your car: they will phone to discuss the repairs because they need you to pay. Well, my mother pays for her NHS care: why don't the doctors phone us, her advocates, to discuss her care?