"My Mum's Night in A&E at Stoke Mandeville"

My mother, who is 91 years old & a resident at Hempton Fields Care Home in Chinnor, had a fall last night & was taken to A&E by ambulance with a possible hip fracture. This was about 10pm.

At 7'o'clock this morning the Nurse from Hempton phoned to enquire as to progress, & no one was even able to tell her if my Mum had had her X Ray. My brother & I both tried phoning the hospital ourselves, & eventually we found out that Mum didn't have a fracture, but despite the fact that she had spent all night in A&E no one could tell us when she was likely to get transport back to the Home. Not good.

However, by 10:30am I was able to find out that Mum had been moved to the Departure Unit (or was it Dispatch? I can't remember) From there on things improved.

A lovely lady called Dell kept me fully up to speed - not only with how things were progressing, but also how Mum was doing in herself. Dell said she was concerned that Mum was refusing to eat or drink, & asked me what I could suggest. I said that Mum's favourite tipple was an instant cappuccino, & by some miracle Dell said she had one & would make it up straightaway! She also phoned the Red Cross Team as soon as they came on duty & got Mum back to her familiar surroundings much more quickly than waiting for the hospital transport, & then she phoned me back to let me know as soon as they had left.

Apparently she also spent much of the intervening time hold Mum's hand & generally helping her to stay as stress-free as was possible under the circumstances. Thanks so much Dell - the one bright spot in the whole sorry saga!