"A very poor experience, especially for..."

What I liked

Dear Sir or Madam,

My mother was admitted with ca pancreas (terrminal) needing pallitative care. She was sent to the maternity block. From the maternity block she was transferred to a general medical ward at 0400 in the morning.

I tried to ascertain what was happening on the maternity block ward but the staff nurse told me that she wasn't looking after my mum and that the staff nurse who was was at break. She refused to look in my mum's medical notes and told me to ring later! Due to visiting restrictions i never was able to ascertain what was happening.

On the surgical ward it was as before- no-one would speak to me and no doctors were ever available!

On both the maternity ward and the surgical ward I asked the nurses several times to ensure that my mum was referred to the pallitative care team. Needless to say that was not done. My mum was also unable to tolerate oral tablets due to nausea and vomiting but was never offfered alternatives (including pain killers and anti-nausea medications). Cont below

What could be improved

The nurses just put crosses in the regular prescription boxes. My mum was left in pain and with nausea. Therefore she ate little and took little in the way of oral fluids!

She was discharged with no referral to the palliative care team, inadaquate pain control, nausea, and no dietary advice or support.

The whole way my mum was treated is a disgrace- there was little compassion from the staff and inappropriate care and support for my mum and her partner.

Anything else?

All you seem to worry about are trolly waits- why was my mum admitted to the maternity block? Even worse why was she moved at 0400 in the morning?

Why no palliative care referrals? No pain killers? Inabilty to give something for the nausea? The inabilty of that staff nurse to treat with any respect and she could have easily looked in the notes.

This whole episode is a disgrace and I would never recommend such poor standards of care or empathyu.ReferralsPalliative carePatient careWardMaternityNursing staffPrescriptionsDoctors