"Hugely disappointed with the level or care &..."

After a diagnosis of CNS Lymphoma at Churchill Hospital, Oxford. My mother reluctantly transferred her care to Royal Hospital Cornwall (Treliske) to be nearer family for support, as she suffered 4 strokes before the diagnosis. The continuation of chemotherapy went well until she started showing symptoms of additional neurological issues. The clinic instantly stopped all treatment & from this point, I am afraid to say, the level of care & compassion has been shocking.

After attending a meeting to discuss my mothers options. We were told the lymphoma had spread (yet they had no 'viable evidence'). There had been no scans or no blood work done at this point. We were then told she had 'weeks/months' to live. I instantly questioned the prognosis, as how can you prognoses something you have no evidence for. We were then told my mother would have a scan & the team would look into other treatment options. The scan took 3 1/2 weeks to come through (after speaking to our GP) and we are yet to attend the consultation (which is booked in for next week, 7 weeks after the initial consultation, which my father has had to repeatedly ring for, as waiting for the post to arrive everyday & nothing arriving has upset him deeply) We have had little contact with the nurses, who are suppose to be helping my parents & the amount of times my father has had to contact them for an update is appalling. At one point after calling the hospital for an update, we had a response of 'i have been meaning to contact you, you are on the bottom of my list'

This prognosis shattered my parents & I had to push for a palliative nurse to help my parents, as my father has now took on the role as pain manager/24hr nurse, which is crippling him & he is suffering for nervous exhaustion. The palliative nurse we have, attends for 1 hour per week. The amount of upset we have experienced over the past 8 weeks would be too much to write & as a loyal supported of the NHS, this experience has filled me with dread.

My mother who has gained strength since the crippling prognosis, will not let the level of her care get her down & works tirelessly everyday to improve herself with at home physiotherapy (which she performs herself, with my father). We await her consultation to see what will come of the scan results with baited breathe.

I have never felt more compelled to write a review. I have full understanding of the severity of my mother's condition but I will never understand how any human should experience such lack of compassion & care when faced with a crippling 'prognosis'.