"contacting relatives when moving elderly patients"

My father is 91 and currently in Newcross awaiting discharge.

He was very ill when admitted with pneumonia and received excellent care in the A&E wards and after when he was transferred to A8.

They probably saved his life and we are forever grateful.

But we have had a big problem with communication since.

When it was decided dad was well enough to be discharged, the fact we live in South Staffordshire was a problem, we know that is South Staffs fault for having reduced their workforce.

But the ward he was on told me I could arrange his care package myself and he could still come home so I assumed he'd be coming home the next day but no he didn't and no one rang.

Went to visit and he wasn't there he'd been moved to C39 which was a long walk away. The new ward was fine and the staff very nice, but no one had phoned us to let us know and my mother is 81, can't walk very far, has asthma, diabetes and waiting for heart tests again so it was a struggle getting her there..

Again no one told us c39 shut at 4pm on Saturdays.

We had no phone call to say he'd been moved. Again we found out when my cousin visited Saturday and found the ward closed with no one to ask. My mom would never have coped if it had been her there as there is no transport or phones at the South Entrance.

My cousin used her initiative and found a ward where they helpfully looked up dad on their computer and told her he'd been moved to a ward by the west entrance which is about as far a walk as is possible from c39.

Please please can you make sure that elderly patients stuck in hospital awaiting care arrangements, that have to be moved around to accommodate patients having trreatment etc or on wards that close weekends, have their relatives informed of their moves. Just take a contact number and make sure it is rung every time they are moved ward, That would be so helpful. It is the one thing that has marred the excellent treatment my dad received.

I have no idea if he will be moved again, his social worker is due Monday and hopefully he will be allowed home by the end of next week.

I understand that this is necessary and very inconvenient to the hospital when local councils are holding up patient discharges, I think the councils should have to pay for the costs incurred to the NHS,

But it is also necessary for Newcross to improve how it communicates with the relatives of patients being moved around. It would take a few seconds to phone or send a text message to a designated contact relative.

Thank you.