"I wouldn't recommend the Nefrology Department"

My father was shunted between Cannock and Wolverhampton with zero continuity of care between the two for a period of weeks last Christmas. On one occasion, rather than continue his course of care put in place by Cannock (in the five days he had been there following a period in Wolverhampton), they said that they had to reassess pre treatment and the result was that he had no iV, antibiotics pain relief or mouth care from c. midday until when I left at c. midnight and the following morning they still had not put the NBM sign above his bed so they had tried to feed him and he had aspirated.

He had been sent back for more intensive oral care than was possible in Cannock but the net result was that he got only minimal oral care compared to what the had actually given him in Cannock since no-one seemed to be caring for him at all in Wolverhampton. At one point they couldn't even find him since he was pretty much in a different bed or ward and under a new care team every time we visited. To add insult to injury, I had flown in from the arctic with a 4 year old who had to stay unaccompanied in the main hospital corridor if I wanted to actually see my dying father -or, if he happened to be in a ward with a window, I could literally leave him outside the hospital and just check that he was still OK every so often. There was no allowance for the fact that I had zero daycare options available since I no longer lived in the area. I felt literally pulled between choosing to try to look out for the safety of a dying father (since the staff didn't seem to be doing it) or the safety of a 4 year old child.

Incidentally, we actually only found out he was dying by overhearing a nurse saying that he had terminal cancer!