"No one is co-ordinating my mum's care"

My mum was sent to GRI to the assessment unit at the front door as a GP referral. She had been treated for cervical cancer at the Beatson a year ago. She has severe GI side effects now from her treatment.

We arrived at the assessment unit and were seen very quickly by a nurse. I gave a history to the nurse and explained that my mum had severe pain that required morphine the previous day when the GP came to her home to visit.

They very quickly decided to send her back out to the ED waiting area as she was a "surgical problem" .... no one sorted out my mums pain! We waited for nearly 4 hours despite telling staff that she was in pain.

When the ED staff nurse eventually called by, popping only their head around the door as they did with every person waiting, no greeting no hello no introduction, just a harsh shout. She waited again within the ED dept. I had to tell the staff that she needed pain relief...

Eventually a single staff nurse came with morphine in a syringe. She did no checks at all, and did not introduce herself. I had to tell her to get an antiemetic as my mum felt sick. I had to tell her to titrate the morphine rather than pushing 10 mg straight through her venflon.

She was seen after a prolonged wait by an ED consultant, who was fantastic.

She was moved to Gynae ward and remained an inpatient for a week. I witnessed staff come into her room, not introducing themselves. One gave her meds and did not tell her what they were. She was never seen by a consultant her entire admission.

She was discussed at MDT and the registrar gave her an update when I asked her to. Staff told her "you have something in your urine". She was hypotensive during her admission on several occasions, post-enema, hours passed before they decided to recheck her BP.

My mum says “no one tells you their name in here”. She has had a colonoscopy as an outpatient and the results were given to her. They said they now need to refer her back to her consultant. That would be the consultant she never met as an inpatient.

She is currently struggling at home with GI symptoms, fatigue severe, weight loss and pain. No one is coordinating her care.