"I was disgusted with the treatment an..."

What I liked

Ambulance staff were excellent but from the time of arrival at the hospital the service was shambolic. Individual nurses and doctors were kind but as they were working under huge pressures, especially in A&E, patients were not treated as individuals and staff were more intent on hitting throughput targets.

What could be improved

My mother was admitted with a chronic chest infection which was treated, but her situation at home, her other disabilities and her own wants were completly ignored. She was discharged without any consulatation with her family or herself, was made to sit in the Ambulance office from approx 8.30 am to 3pm in her pyjamas( as she was unable to move on her own she was unable to use any toilet facilities ) and at 4pm was 'dumped' at home with a bag of medicine some of which we had never seen before.

On arrival at home we could see that she was still very poorly and distressed. We tried to clean her, give her some food and calm her fears as by this time she was very confused. As she was very tired we put her to bed not realising that she was now incontinent.

The next morning at 7.30 I found her in bed, unable to get up and very distressed and crying. Eventually after taking care of her, i contacted her local doctor who arrived very promptly and stated that she she never have been released from the hospital, and her on going welfare should have been discussed before any release was signed off.. She arranged for the surgery to send an ambulance and again my mother was taken to the Queens Hospital where we waited in A&E for over 5 hours while she was again stabilised and her oxygen levels improved.

Eventually she was admited into the MAU while they tried to find her a bed on the wards. Since then consultants, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and Registrars have apologised to my mother for the treatment she received, but still we have had no discussion on any form of onward Care plan.

Anything else?

My mother is still in the Queen Hospital where she is being looked after well, but even today she has had a Consultant apologise to her for what has happened.

We have had no one take any time with us to talk about what happens to her in the future. We are never eved advised when she changes wards, in fact on Sunday it took us 20 minutes to find her.

Until this experience I have always been a strong supporter of the NHS, but the Queens Hospital as changed my opinion and i would hate to be a paient there myself and wish that we were able to take my mother to an alternative