"B3 Whipps Cross"

My elderly father was admitted to Whipps Cross just before xmas as he was in terrible pain.   At the start we were happy that he was at last getting some of the tests done to see what the problem was. But untill they had all the tests they could not give us a diagnosis and we understand that. However the final test was a scan and he had to wait a week for this and by this time my father was screaming in pain.  

Some of the nurses in B3 did not seem to care at all about my fathers needs and had we not been there to help him with his food and water consumption i fear he would have had nothing. You cant leave the refreshments on the bedside table and expect a critical man with dementia to help himself!    But the worst part was that my father was in so much pain by the weekend at end of December that he was begging us to kill him. But all the nurses would say when we went to them for help is that the doctors are on holiday and they cant do anything until Monday when they are back!!  When i called one evening to find out who was the doctor in charge of the ward the nurse who took the call then went and had a proper go at my sister who was visiting my father saying she could not cope with calls as well as visitors ! The nurses we dealt with made you feel like you were in the way and could not have walked any slower if they tried when you did ask them for anything.  

Last day of december when i saw the Doctor in charge he told me the diagnosis was not good and cancer had spread everywhere- no wonder he was in agony!!!! The doctor was also very apologetic and looked mortified that my father had spent the whole weekend in such utter agony and despair and that the nurses had not called for a palliative care doctor to give pain relief . He knew the system had let my father down and seemed genuinely sorry.

 

My father was then moved to the palliative care ward at St Margarets right at the start of  january 2019 and the pain killers were quadrupled. Only then did my father look peacefull. He died within 24 hours of being in that ward. :( 

 My fathers passing is painful enough but to have the memory of him screaming in pain and begging for us to kill him for 2/3 days is something my mind cannot wipe away. NHS nurses on that ward B3 that did nothing to help my father should hang their heads in shame!  His watch also went missing just before he moved wards - my mother checked the bedside table and it was not there. When i called about the watch they said -it must have ended up in the bin when they changed his bed overnight " 

I went into the ward in person and made it clear that i would be reporting the missing watch as theft and needed the names of the nurses on duty the night the watch went missing. Within 10 minutes my fathers watch was found ( in the bedside table!!)  how strange as my mother had looked there and it was not there ......

I do have pictures from the ward but i think they are too shocking to show anyone. But i have them if needs be. From our experience if people are ill over a weekend - god help them!!! Even worse a bank holiday weekend....dont expect see a dr.

How can this be ? End of life care should be a priority and everyone treated with dignity and love. I understand that NHS is short staffed - but why not at least have volunteers to help with the feed/water of the elderly?    There HAS to be proper pain relief at weekends...  imagine it was one of your parents........screaming in pain .....

As soon as the funeral is past i will be taking this up with B3 and whoever can make a positive change ...my father deserved so much better than this !!