"Some of the nurses who after being ..."

What I liked

Some of the nurses who after being confronted actually made an effort to help

What could be improved

For the last 7 years my mother has continually been sent to Whiston hospital by ambulance.

My mother is an insulin independent diabetic and has keytone acidosis. This makes taking her insulin more complicated than the usual diabetic as more of a balancing act is involved.

When my mother was first diagnosed with "suspected" keytones she was moved to HDU where during a fit (which she could not control) a nurse told her family the reason she was in this state was her own doing...

Following this first day my mother has been in and out of hospital every 2 to 3 months. On several occasions she has been left in A&E without water or a drip when dehydrated to the point of exhaustion or sometimes coma.

The nurses have refused to give her insulin injections when her blood sugars are high until a doctor has seen her - sometimes an hour later where she will go into a hyper state.

On one occasion in ward C3 the nurses refused to give her insulin for an entire day because they had the wrong name above her bed and would not listen to her when she was scared and screaming for help.

Another time at ward C3 we where visiting her to find her dehydrated and starving for food. Due to uncontrollable vomiting my mother had asked for a sickness tablet so she could eat. She was told that they could only prescribe once the doctor had been round and he was currently on lunch. It was 4 hours later when I visited and complained that anything was chased up. By this time the food had already been round and she was not allowed any. Also there was a drip lying next to her bed that should have been used hours earlier. Again she was dehydrated and exhausted.

Recently she has been put into MAU. we are told that she should always go here before she is moved to a ward. This is the first time this has happened in over 6 years.

Anything else?

My mother is of sound mind but it has gotten to the point that every time she becomes ill she does not wish to go into hospital out of fear for her safety.

The general attitude of most (not all) of the nurses is to ignore my mother and continue there conversations about there nights out and love life in front of her when she is gasping for air, vomiting or even worse passed out.

I hate that my mother does not have a choice over what hospital she is omitted to and as I work 40 hours a week I find it worrying that I can not be there to hold her hand and resolve through ever issue.

I wish whiston would put more money into their staff training than their new building.