My father has a pre-existing dementia, Parkinson's and atrial fibrillation. Following an acute event recently when my father became extremely agitated, hallucinating, and disoriented he was subsequently admitted to Ward 101 Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where it was confirmed that the delirium had developed in response to Digoxin toxicity. Prior to the admission we made three calls to NHS 24 who were exceptional in all aspects right through from response times, call handling and providing the most appropriate response. On all three occasions medical staff visited my father at home to assess the situation until it was no longer possible to maintain my father at home.
We highly commend the work, the compassion and empathy displayed by all staff we came across within NHS 24. The Scottish Ambulance Service continued in this exemplary fashion and despite it being an extremely busy day they prioritised my father's needs and maintained regular contact with us until a vehicle could be dispatched. Once again the care and compassion and the understanding by the paramedics was exceptional.
My father was admitted through Acute Medical Admissions (Ward 101), transferred to Elderly Assessment (Ward 102) and subsequently placed within Ward 303. Within each of these areas the staff were incredible, they were patient, kind, compassionate, empathetic and tolerant despite my father now being extremely unwell and uncharacteristically aggressive. They repeatedly told us that they knew this was out of character and that they could see that my father was a kind, gentle, man. This was so reassuring and comforting for us a family as we struggled with this distressing situation.
All staff within the full multidisciplinary team were exceptional. The natural, relaxed, reassuring and calm approach from nursing assistant to both the Consultant in Ward 101 and Dr Bostock were exceptional. At all times we were listened to as a family and were fully encouraged to participate in my father's care which was extremely important to both my father and my family. The staff cared for our needs as much as my fathers and never at any time were we made to feel like we were a burden or that the staff were too busy, despite what I felt were ridiculously low staffing levels.
Unfortunately, despite the excellence in acute care the level of support from the Dementia Service has not compared. The level of, or indeed lack of, response from my father's allocated dementia nurse has been extremely disappointing and despite advising the nurse of my father's admission to hospital they have still not followed this up even though he was discharged home around 2 weeks ago.
"Excellence in acute care then lack of follow up"
About: Aberdeen Royal Infirmary / Acute Short Stay Medicine Aberdeen Royal Infirmary Acute Short Stay Medicine Aberdeen AB25 2ZN Community Services in Grampian Community Services in Grampian NHS 24 / NHS 24 (111 service) NHS 24 NHS 24 (111 service) Scottish Ambulance Service / Emergency Ambulance Scottish Ambulance Service Emergency Ambulance EH12 9EB
Posted by DrJ (as ),
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Update posted by DrJ (a relative) 6 years ago