Poor post-operative care

After the recent concerns about the care of the dying I am so glad my MiL was able to stay in her nursing home being cared for by people she knew.

I have to say that 6 years ago I had brilliant nursing care when in hospital for a week with a badly broken leg. No complaints at all.

On the other hand we could write a book about the problems we have had with the 'care' my mother has had on the few occasions she has been in hospital (not the same one as me) in the past 10 years. She is now in a care home where they know the meaning of the word.

My husband was operated on for peritonitis in November. He was on a high dependency ward after the operation where the staff were more interested in keeping the ward tidy than actually nursing the patients. He managed to talk the surgeon into letting him come home a couple of days early and rang me to collect him. When I arrived he had gone, a new shift had started and no one knew where he was ! We eventually tracked him down in the Discharge Lounge. This would have been fine except that they hadn't actually discharged him! They wanted blood tests, which took several attempts and a long time. Eventually the doctor said the blood results were fine and we could go. It had taken 5 hours to get to this point. We drove home through rush hour traffic to be greeted by a phone call from the hospital saying that the blood results hadn't been fine at all - and would I take him back? The short answer was "No!" The argument continued the following day until I offered to take him to our doctor to get more blood tests done. Needless to say the results were fine.

I might add that during the 5 hours he waited to be discharged no one offered to test his blood sugar or get him anything to eat or drink although his notes would have told them he is an insulin dependent diabetic.

I might also add that the cancer ward in the same hospital is very good and the staff there are wonderful.

This brings back memories of when my Mother had a fall in the garden and had to be rushed into hospital as she had a dreadful leg injury. A & E were so appalling I could write a book. The final straw came when they gave her the wrong painkilling injection and almost killed her - she had to whisked into Resusc.

She was admitted and later that day, she had the most wonderful plastic surgery on her leg, truly remarkable bearing in mind her paper-thin skin.

But . . . . . the following day the hospital discharged her. The staff had not read her notes and thought that she'd be returning to a care home, so they did not realise that she lived in her own home, had 27 front steps to negotiate or that she lived alone!! Luckily, my daughter and I visited her before she was 'thrown out' and really tore them off a strip. My mother hadn't even properly come round from the combination of a) literally nearly being killed and b) surgery and anaesthetic, and yet they wanted her out

They grudgingly, very grudgingly, agreed to keep her in for another night so that we could make arrangements for her to be transferred to a private hospital - luckily she had insurance.

It didn't end there! My mother phoned me to say that the first hospital had phoned the second hospital and cancelled the private ambulance and her admission!!! I won't repeat the ensuing conversations between me and the first hospital. Suffice to say, the ambulance was reinstated and my mother went off to the second hospital. I suspect that the first hospital did this because of not wanting to tick the box that said that she required further care and treatment - not that I'm cynical, you understand.

I can't even bear to think what would have happened if DD and I hadn't turned up before Hosp 1 had shown her the door.

It is quite scary really. The only thing her Mum said to me was "At least she was not in long enough to pick up some grim infection!"

It really cannot be regarded as proper care. It is dreadful. This woman lives on her own.

Don't talk to me about hospital discharges! I'm still waiting for the hospital to reply to our MP from my complaint in January!

I find this shocking. When I read the OP to DH his response was 'its worse than living in a third world country'

I have had good medical care at my local hospital, it was the nursing care which was sadly lacking. It was in the news many years ago because a number of new borns died. This hospital has always had a poor reputation.

Couldn't agree more, Charleygirl. Hearing more and more people complaining about the standard of health care they receive. Our local hospital has a dreadful reputation I'm afraid. While my hubby was in the oncology ward on one of his many stays, he rang me in a flap saying the doctor had just been in and told him he had bilateral pneumonia. When I got there and spoke to the ward sister, it turned out the doctor had muddled him with another patient who'd just been told he was well enough to go home and who had phoned his wife to collect him........!

That is incredible. The poor girl could probably hardly stand on her feet. Sometimes I think that good care is a postcode lottery but poor care seems to be spreading.

My sister was also discharged the day after her double mastectomy, drains in place. The drains kept falling out so she had to go back at least three times to the hospital which is a 45 minute drive away. Awful

Very occasionally a patient can be discharged with a drain if it's being particularly productive and the patient is keen to go after say 5 days and is recovering well.

I really do despair at incidents like this!

When I had a mastectomy I was in hospital for a over a week and told I would not be discharged until the drains had been removed and I could walk unaided the length of the ward

I should think so too, that a complaint has been made!

District nurse appeared after 4 days. Breast care nurse has now visited and has lodged a complaint with the hospital.

It is hard to imagine how anyone can seriously have contemplated such a discharge.

The next day!

How cruel - poor girl - she would have still been under the influence of the anaesthetic.

Is the district nurse due to visit?