"Horrendous & caused more damage"

My 54 year old partner was admitted with a Transient Ischaemic Attack at first they were going to discharge him after 6 hours by diagnosing him with vertigo. 

The consultant then decided to CT him & the scans confirmed he had a vertebrae artery dissection on his brain stem & a blood clot. Yet they discharged him the next evening with blood thinning medication. Admittedly he was presenting well with no signs of disability. The consultant even stated he was amazed there was no disability. You would expect a stroke specialist would be aware this was red flags.

Within 18 hours of discharge the blood clot progressed up the brain stem & this time caused a major stroke. Upon phoning the ward to seek advice the rude receptionist stated they couldn’t do anything & suggested we call 111.

As I witnessed my partner deteriorate I called 999 only to be told they can not dispatch an ambulance. So we drove to Southmead. Upon route I phoned a&e to state the situation & request a resus team & a wheelchair. The receptionist responds that they can’t do anything until you book him in but you will need a £1 coin for the wheelchair.

The whole situation became mind blowing! The lack of care, compassion & medical knowledge was indescribable! My partner finally got checked in after sitting slumped half an hour in a wheelchair within the a&e waiting room as I joined the queue to get him booked in! This was a medical emergency yet anyone would of thought we were queuing for groceries!!

After another CT scan it showed the stroke had now progressed & was established in the basilar artery, he was taken to a ward & continued to wait for pharmacy to dispatch a different blood thinning medication!! One tablet was not going to fix this situation!

During this time, my partner continued to deteriorate hour by hour. He violently projectile vomited across the room , looking like a scene from the exorcist! Yet still no treatment. He went from slurring words to no speech at all. He lost all use of his upper & lower left limbs & was unable to sit up or reposition himself. He looked confused & became drowsy & even had a seizure.

 

I was advised that he would be booked in for a Thrombectomy the next day! When I asked the nurse why not today, they replied that they don’t have the service providers. So when I asked if they had the staff available would it be done today? They sheepishly stared through me & eventually replied it will be done tomorrow at the earliest.

This delay was caused as this surgery is only carried out Mon-Friday 9-5!

As he suffered the 2nd major stroke, we had no choice but to watch him deteriorate in front of our eyes! That evening, parts of his brain was continuing to die & more disabilities were appearing hourly, Yet no treatment was provided. I still have no idea why he wasn’t even offered the thrombolysis treatment either! This could of reversed the damage caused by doing absolutely nothing!! He was presented to a&e within 1 hour of the onset of symptoms. 

The next day Monday morning, he was taken to theatre & the operation to remove the blood clots were removed. Up until this point, I believe he was still a time bomb waiting to go off! Thankfully he survived the operation but the damage was done. 

It took 3 days for him to become more alert after the operation! 

The lack of support continued. He would wait an average 45 minutes for a buzzer to be answered. There were times when I had to phone the ward to ask them to assist him as no one was available or many chose to walk by the ringing of the buzzers or him calling for help!

By the time they got to him he had wet himself & was continually left humiliated & angry. He also suffered aspiration pneumonia, eye infections, 2 UTI’s & oral thrush (probably caused by no one taking care of his oral care) it took a doctor 27 hours to check his crackling chest to confirm pneumonia.

My partner & other patients on the ward were left hour by hour without any nurse or HCA in sight. I witnessed an patient struggle to move his table as the wheel got stuck on the bed frame, which resulted in all the contents including a jug of water & his false teeth fall to the floor. But what made the situation worse, was the nurse that was present initially chose to ignore him struggle & then when the force tipped the table, they got out they seat & shouted what did you do that for? I explained it was an accident due to the lodged wheel, for the nurse to reply that he had been like that all day. This was not the case at all. I sat in that ward for 6-8 hours a day (as a registered carer) & this patient never once caused an issue or requested assistance, simply being unaware of using his call Button. 

I also witnessed a patient with dementia & stroke injuries being given his dinner & placed on his table while he slept! Only for it to be taken away within an hour, as they said they asssumed he didn't want it.

No one ever considered he had no awareness that his meals were ever placed in front of him or the fact that he had no understanding to feed himself This was a daily occurrence.

As for myself. Everyday I had to fight my way pass the rude obnoxious receptionist. Ever single visit, they would shout in a stern & obnoxious tone who are you? & who are you here to see? Even after 3 weeks, I was confronted with the same questions & tones! There were no people skills whatsoever or any attempt to welcome distressed relatives visiting our loved ones! This daily occurrence caused me added anxiety & stress.