"Poor experience of post-op care"

My daughter entered for surgery as an NHS patient at 11:30am for surgery at 3:30pm having had no food since 6am.

Food was routinely ordered for post op and for the following day. She is vegetarian and allergic to tomato which was marked on the form. No food was provided post op (although requested) due to late hour. It was said that staff did not want her to be sick but she was not sick when her visiting husband eventually found her something to eat.

Tea and biscuits were then provided with the promise of a sandwich which did not arrive. Every subsequent meal provided had tomato on, which caused a sore throat and swelling. She could not lift the heavy metal jug of water provided.

She had a GA and spinal and was advised to drink plenty. She suffers from interstitial cystitis. Her bladder became distended and solid. Despite her explanation and requests staff put her on a bed pan and then a commode which was painful and distressing following hip surgery.

By 2am she was so distressed that she asked for a bladder scan which when eventually used showed that was a real problem and that a catheter was needed. She could hear staff talking about her unkindly outside her room.

I made a call to highlight the problem the next day but despite assurances there was no improvement the following night and no catheter was applied. A member of staff even said to her that hip surgery would not cure her interstitial cystitis which is so evident that it would seem he has no idea about the condition or patient communication.

She was still extremely ill and distressed after being discharged and it would seem logical that trained staff using patient notes provided after the pre-op service could have prevented this situation.

The surgical socks provided were too small and were painful and left bruising still apparent days after. Despite her telling staff about this the socks which were provided on Tuesday were not changed until Thursday.

There was no help for her to do simple personal care like clean her teeth or wash whilst in recovery.

She was not to be discharged until she had been to a physio appointment at the Ridgeway. However, several staff members asked her why she was still there and why she had not gone home. Some staff and doctors talked over her and did not listen to her or make eye contact. They were careless about being overheard discussing patients in an unsympathetic manner. Some were so awkward in communication that it has to be called rudeness.

The physio appointment was inadequate due to being extremely brief and after receiving the necessary pain killers she was not able to take in the brief instructions.

There was no instruction for Occupational Therapy - provided by GWH - to visit her home to assess what aids were needed. These aids should have been in place before she arrived home. A routine notification should be in place for NHS patients needing aids from an external source. Consequently the check and aids arrived days after discharge although GWH were very prompt when approached.

It is hard enough for patient and family to cope with hospitalisation without feeling there is a need to mention a raft of issues.  When it says on the form 'surgery only' it should raise alarm bells.