"Dismayed at many aspects of the quality of care"

My 85 year old father fell and was admitted to ward 12 overnight via A/E. Previous to the fall my father was independently mobile and independent in all activities of personal care. He did grocery shopping , swam twice a week, drove a car, gardened and had just returned from a cruise 4 days earlier.

He had surgery to fix a fractured neck of femur later the same day. Overall basic nursing care (pressure area care, oral hygiene, chart completion) was poor with my father being left sitting up in a chair on his first post-op day for around 10 hours. My father was at high risk of developing pressure sores due to his age, weight, recent trauma,urinary incontinence ( which he only developed following the injury/surgery) and immobility.The pressure relieving device he was sitting on was constantly alarming because it wasn't working correctly but until I specifically asked why it wasn't inflated (meaning my father was actually sitting on the hard ridges of the device) and constantly alarming nobody showed any interest in solving the problem. Intravenous cannulae (a source of infection), wounds on his arm and his shoulder injury weren't cared for in a timely manner. Pain assessment and relief was poor .

On my fathers first post -op day he called me at approx' 20.30hrs to tell me they might be moving him to a different ward because he was "doing so well". Essentially he was being moved to free up beds for other admissions,not because it was in his best interests.

The following day he was certified as medically fit emough to be discharged to Chester-le-Street community hospital later that day. At that point my father was progressing with his vitally important physiotherapy and early mobilisation and walking a short distance with a zimmer frame and the assistance of 2 people.

Since his transfer I've discovered that he won't have any treatment by physiotherapists for 2 days as there's no physio's on duty on the "rehabilitation ward" at the weekend. The nurses are not allowed to mobilise him with the frameover the weekend because he needs a physio assessment first.

If there is an inadequate provision of emergency, trauma and rehabilitation services within the Trust then it needs to be increased. Additionally , issues around basic nursing care, medical and nursing staffing levels and communication need to be addressed.The trust needs to ensure that junior staff are led and supported by appropriately skilled and experienced managers. I can completely see why the hospital was rated as "requires improvement" at the last Care Quality Commission inspection.