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My brother's death

Posted By catlady1

"My brother's death"

About: Forth Valley Royal Hospital / General medicine

(as a relative),

My brother was dying in this ward he was only young and terrified this was happening to him.

My mother stayed with him for the whole time he was in hospital. However on the night before he died a nurse came into his room when my mum had asked for help as he couldn't breathe.

They aggressively told my mum infront of a young terrified dying man that she was to stop beeping them as he was end of life and would not be coming to help in any case although he couldn't breathe and in severe pain and my mum was in a severe state seeing her son this way.

My mum told them to stop mentioning that they would not be helping him anymore because he was dying as he was absolutely terrified to hear this, to which the nurse replied that if it was their son they would just tell him the truth? ?

They had not had read his notes in the shift change to not be talking to him about his "end of life" which added to his stress whilst he was dying. My mum sat with him all night knowing that his nurse would not be coming in any instance and was completely stressed all night seeing him unable to breathe until his death in the morning.

To anyone that is a parent a cannot imagine anyone seeing their son treated this way. I honestly believed that nurses were in the job to genuinely care about patients and be compassionate when they are dying and not to treat that person with no respect to even read their notes. The ward has really let my family and brother down during this period and we will never get over the way this nurse treated a dying scared young man to offer nothing in his final night.

I am absolutely astounded this has happened and I am terrified myself to ever be treated this way in my final hours because clearly some nurses just couldn't care less.

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Responses

Response from NHS Forth Valley 6 years ago
NHS Forth Valley

Submitted on 18/09/2017 at 14:46
Published on Care Opinion at 15:13

Dear Catlady1

Thank you for your posting and taking the time to share the experience of care and treatment that your brother recently received in Forth Valley Royal Hospital.

May I first offer you my sincere condolences on the loss of your brother, I can hear so clearly the deep sadness and concern you are feeling at what must be an extremely difficult time for you and your family.

I apologise unreservedly, I was disappointed and dismayed to read of the description of care that your brother received but also your mum. I am sure this must have been very difficult for you to write and I appreciate very much you having the courage to share this experience. I found it very difficult to read and I am truly sorry that we have let you all down. I will as a result ensure improvements are made so that other patients and their families may not have a similar experience.

The level of care you described is completely unacceptable, and would like to give you reassurance that we are taking your concerns very seriously. I wonder if I could ask you to get in touch with me, I would really appreciate the opportunity to investigate further the concerns that you have raised and to carry out a full investigation.

You can contact me on 01786 457259.

Yours sincerely

Professor Angela Wallace

Executive Nurse Director

NHS Forth Valley

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