My 91 year old father was admitted to A & E on Saturday 20th June 2015 at 7.30am. He had d & v and respiratory difficulties. I was with him during this time, up until 1pm. He has mild dementia which seems to be worsened when he is not well. He was checked over by 2 doctors and had a bladder scan and a chest x-ray and was tested by 3 different nurses. I noticed that every time someone new examined him, none of the given information was passed on from one person to another. When I returned at 12pm with his overnight things he had been moved to the UMAU ward. He started to choke violently on his lunch and was struggling to breathe. None of the staff came, he was in a room on his own and I can't imagine what would have happened if I hadn't have been there. None of the staff knew that he hadn't passed urine since the night before or that he had a chest infection and trouble swallowing. His lunch was suddenly whisked away and 'Nil by mouth' written above his bed. The wrong name was also above his bed. One member of staff told me he had pneumonia another said he hadn't. The staff did not know he'd had a bladder scan that morning and arranged for him to have a follow up after I'd told them. The next day he was moved at lunchtime to an isolation ward as he had D & V although he'd already been with other patients for over 30 hours. As his visitors, we were told to put on aprons and gloves to stop contamination and to remove them when we left the room. However, 3 different nurses went in and out of the room without doing the same. Generally the communiation between staff is apalling, which puts the patients in danger. Information passed on to me, his daughter ,regarding his treatment and prognosis where also very woolley and vague and certainly not made clear. I cannot fault the general care and cleanliness of the hospital.
"transfer from A & E to UMAU"
About: The Maidstone Hospital The Maidstone Hospital Maidstone ME16 9QQ
Posted via nhs.uk
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