"Poor care for my Mum after her hip fracture"

My Mum was admitted to Sunderland Royal Hospital following a fall sustaining a fractured neck of femer. She was operated on and 6 days later on New Years Eve she was discharged. She was still groggy as if she hadn't come round from the anesthetic.

Visiting her in the residential home, the staff told me that there was a gaping wound on her hip and that they had been given dressings to dress it. As the carers were not trained nurses they contacted the district nurse.

I was present when the nurse visited. She put a probe into the wound right down to the prosthetic hip. I requested a visit from the tissue viability nurse. When she visited the next day she had my Mum readmitted to hospital.

Three days later when visiting we were told she was in theatre. No one had informed any of the family she was even going to theatre. 12 of her 13 children and grandchildren visited daily. No one signed a consent form and by that time my Mum did not have the mental capacity to understand and sign.

We requested a meeting with the consultant who came up with the old chestnut "in her best interests" to get round the omission legally.

My Mum had been moved all over the hospital and ended up on Ward E43. She died 10 days later. The room was so cold the physio put her cardigan on when she came in. The heat was OFF in January. The draughts were as bad as if there was no glass in the windows. The air mattress did not work and it took 3 days to get a replacement but as a result of the broken mattress Mum lay for a time on the bace resulting in a massive pressure sore. We took blankets in for her to keep warm.

We asked for pain killers for her and we were told the Dr couldnt write her up for controlled drugs as the dr did not know her. I told the nurse that Oramorph was NOT a CD and a Dr could write her up for any drug.

The nurse did not realise that there were 5 trained nurses and a pharmacologist in the family.

The following day a nurse came in and cut the strings of the skin traction without taking the pressure and releasing it gently. The result was that the muscles snapped back causing Mum immense pain.

I thanked God when my Mum died. Even today I curse those nurses on E53 and the consultant.