"Very little!!"

What I liked

Very little!!

What could be improved

My Mother-in-Law passed away on 22nd December 2009 from the effects of a horrific bedsore developped in Southend Hospital. She was 81 and had been disabled for many years. She had dementia and was no longer able to speak up for herself. Even if she had been able to, I doubt she would have been listened to. Her treatment, from A&E to wards was appaling. Sadly she was only one of many in the same situation. Simple nursing would have prevented the bedsore developping in the first place. Hours on hard beds in A&E as opposed to an air mattress, causing untold further damage to a bedsore. Left soiled and ignored. Often when visited she was stained with food because no-one had helped her and she had been eating with her fingers. Very rarely turned in bed to relieve the pressure on the bedsore. Due to the bedsore she spent the last 8-9 months bedridden and in and out of Southend Hospital. The small quality of life she still had diminished each time she went in. Only when she was in the care home did we know that she was cared for and nursed with compassion and dignity.

How many elderly people are in the same situation as you read this?

Anything else?

This treatment of elderly and vulnerable people cannot possibly go on. Unfortunately it is not just in Southend this happens. Surely someone somewhere will listen and do something about it. I am working on it.

I have just noticed that this email will be sent for "moderation". -I suspect it will not appear then.