"My Mothers experience of care"

Three months ago my mum was blue lighted to hospital in a very poor condition with acute confusion, hyperthermia and loss of mobility, she is fifty six years old. The staff at NHS24 were faultless and the paramedics a calming and reassuring presence. When we (my dad and I) arrived at Monklands A&E the nurse was absolutely fantastic (cannot praise her enough) as was the initial young doctor she seen who unfortunately we did not get the name of. Unfortunately this is the last positive comment I can make with regards to her four week stay.

When the night shift staff came on we were informed my mum had been stabilised and the medic would be down to see her when possible. The fact she was stable was reassuring and we understood we would have some time to wait. When time was getting on and the nurse phoned the medic to ensure they were coming it was clear from what we could hear on the phone that this was deemed an inconvenience. Eventually a medic arrived (wearing jeans and a hooded jumper which I find very unprofessional). They spent some time assessing my mum and then came to ask myself and my dad some questions as my mum was too confused to answer. At this point I asked if my mum was suffering from sepsis, and was met with a sigh and told "sepsis is just a word for infection. " I find it hard to believe a medical professional is not fully aware of the seriousness of this condition and deems it just another word for infection.

Their attitude towards concerned relatives was appalling. We then experienced a further few hours in A&E where the same medic deemed it appropriate to guess my mums weight and got it wrong by a long way despite us stating a much more accurate figure. Throughout our time in A&E we were told next to nothing about what was happening. Eventually she was transferred to Ward 18.

When we arrived at Ward 18 we waited outside for over an hour whilst my mum was settled in the ward, something we didn't mind. We were then allowed in to say goodbye for the night at around 2: 30am although were met with in my opinion,an unwelcome attitude.

We only waited outside the ward as requested by staff and had it been unsuitable for us to see her we would have went home prior. I would like to make it clear that when we left at this point my mum was still confused. By the time my dad arrived to visit around lunchtime later that day a DNACPR had been put in place. This was put in place and agreed with my mum when she was suffering from confusion and believed the year was 1917.

She does not have any co-morbidities and the decision was made with no family members present. This is absolutely disgraceful and I will never forgive the staff for the distress this caused my mum and dad when they discovered this, as did the comment of do you know what resuscitation is?

 Needless to say the DNACPR was removed as when compos mentis, my mum was very clear in her wishes that she would like to be resuscitated should she require. We are very aware it is not always the right thing to do however as previously mentioned my mum does not have co-morbidities. At this point I would also like to mention there were doctors around the ward wearing gym clothes discussing their personal lives loudly which does not give any sort of professional image, especially when we are having such a serious discussion.

My mum was later moved to Ward 10 when her confusion resolved and temperature had reduced. I do not think I would ever have enough time to write every single error which was made in her care in this ward, I shall list some examples briefly.

Every day she became overloaded with fluid in front of my eyes, this was never acted upon by staff and her respiration rate in the 30s was never accurately documented as staff taking her observations were never in the room for a full minute to measure this. After weeks of this and a chest x-ray finally being performed which revealed large volumes of fluid in her lungs, she was treated for the fluid with IV furosemide.

However on one occasion when her catheter was bypassing she was advised it was "the drain site" which was leaking and a colostomy bag applied to a random area of skin. She was left in a urine soaked bedsheet and her pleas ignored by multiple staff members until eventually someone confirmed it was her catheter bypassing and resolved this.

Staff continued to insist a doctor on the ward had documented performing an ascitic tap. If this was documented it is false, she should have been however never was drained of the fluid with a drain. She was informed she was too confused to remember this, this is completely false. At another point staff weighed her and told her she was gaining weight from the fluid, she asked how they knew this when they didn't weigh her prior and they again told her she had been weighed and had just forgotten this.

Again this is false and if a weight was documented, notes have been falsified. I cannot highlight enough here that staff were lying to my mum and notes have potentially been falsified.

Throughout my mums time in Monklands we were not informed of what was happening and to this day haven't been told what happened. I can say with genuine sadness I have lost all faith in Monklands Hospital and its staff with few exceptions. My mum was an independent 56 year old woman prior to her admission and has lost a lot of confidence. This could be understandable considering how ill she was however her poor treatment has also contributed to this.

Following my mums stay in hospital my dad became unwell and was admitted to another site where in my opinion,  the difference in care really reinforced the unsafe standards of care in Monklands in particular Ward 10. I recognise that my mums life was saved however her recovery was significantly delayed by staff doing the bare minimum and delivering extremely poor standards of care.

My family very rarely complain and are always grateful to receive help however this was unacceptable. We continue to have questions and remain annoyed however have not yet felt up to submitting an official complaint. This is not an experience anyone in my family will forget anytime soon and I hope by posting our story, future patients receive better care.