2 May - The state of the National Health Service today
It’s a day to drop everything and rush over to East Ham again. I must come to an arrangement with the care company to see if they can increase cover further, my sister cannot be expected to be on 24/7 care watch for ever.
I suspect that we cannot go on much longer without engaging a full time care
home despite my aunt’s insistence that she wants to be in the home where she has
been since being bombed in Victoria Dock Road in 1941.
There has been some progress towards mitigating Newham Hospital’s total failure to prepare for the discharge
of a frail old lady just a month short of her 99th birthday. The District Nurse who declared the incident a
failed discharge has been visiting since last Monday and dealt with the
bedsores. Not so good is that some of the supplied syringes will be past their
expiry date before they are due to be used.
Yesterday a Physiotherapist came for the first time and said that my aunt should
not be at home on weekly physiotherapy but in a rehab. centre for daily
attention. He said he would make an urgent application but had no idea if space would be available.
Also yesterday a commode was delivered
(a day later than promised) but there has been no contact with Social
Services. I regard that as a good thing. They were no help back in 2015 after my
aunt had been in hospital and rehab. for nine weeks.
The General Practitioner also declared Newham Hospital’s discharge to be
“failed” and he is so concerned by the last week’s events that he is going to
raise it with the Clinical Commissioning Group.
Everyone the District Nurse and I have persuaded to take an interest in the
situation have been very nice people who have done their best to mitigate Newham
Hospital’s failure to make any arrangements at all.
The ward Sister - the one in dark blue - assured me that all the professionals
in her hospital had passed my aunt, who was constipated and catheterised until discharge and required
lifting from bed to chair, fit for return home. Is Dr. Charlotte Pratt
(GMC Number 3083318) who signs off geriatric discharges still in employment?
My big mistake was allowing my sister to reach a compromise date for discharge with the ward staff.
They wanted her discharge to be eleven days after the leg break was repaired and
13 days was agreed. We should have just walked away.
Related blogs
25 April 2019. •
27 April 2019. •
29 April 2019. •
2 May 2019. •
3 May 2019 1st part. •
3 May 2019 2nd part. •
6 May 2019 1st part. •
6 May 2019 2nd part. •
7 May 2019. •
8 May 2019. •
9 May 2019. •
10 May 2019. •
11 May 2019. •
18 May 2019.
The Omnibus Edition.