General Chat

Deep inside the fastenesses of the NHS lies an organisation which calls itself the ATU or Acute Trauma Unit. A better title might be ADU Acute Drama Unit.

On Monday morning I spoke to my mother on the phone. She was fine.

Later the same day she was not answering the phone - not unusual. I called on Tues am to check up. She had vanished the neighbours reported she had departed by ambulance. In ever widening circles I cast around for her no A&E had any record. Eventually I located her in an "ATU" some way off.

Once found and visited she seemed to be ok, fall indoors and small fracture of the femur. Left her.in good spirits.

Wednesday came. The ATU had lost my contact details. On arrival taken straight to see snr consultant. Despite it being "guideline" to check suitability and records before admin oramorphine to old people this had not been done. As a result she was in a poor way. They had taken steps to remove the oramorphine and use a more suitable pain killer. By then of course the best window of opportunity had gone. They are "sorry".

By the time I left she was lucid and not in serious pain.
I only discovered by chance that her case meeting is tomorrow morning. There is little option but to operate tomorrow, they agree on that. So why plan a meeting with me at 2pm?

Most of my experiences with the NHS vary from poor to tragic. Hope this one improves soon.

I hope your mother makes a speedy recovery after her op Rollo, and that particular hospital is one of the better ones.

Rollo

sorry to hear this. I hope your mother makes a speedy recovery, and there is no more drama.

How worrying for you - every child's nightmare when their parents are elderly. When you can't get hold of them, you always fear the worse.

Isn't a Case Meeting intended as a discussion between practitioners on medical needs? Perhaps that's why the meeting with you is scheduled in the afternoon so that they can discuss options for follow-up & continuing care.

Wishing her a speedy and safe recovery. With her nursing background, she'll soon make sure her care is top-notch ;-) :-D

I wish your mother a successful operation and a speedy recovery, Rollo.

I hope you get some peace of mind quickly and your view of the NHS improves following your mother's treatment.

For what it's worth, the hospital experiences of family members in this part of the country have ranged from poor to excellent - I hope you and your mother discover that she has excellent treatment.

Unbelievable. Snr nurse slagging off registrar in reception space and accusing him of being a liar on top. Dearie me.

Mother now 4 days out from fall she is lucid but v unhappy, serious pain.
Complete failure to give her anything to drink, notes read re she can only eat v slowly and def not nhs mash potato!

Lots of argument from the various teams all passing the buck. In the end got hold if the consultant so now we have a plan at least.

Things are not going well joined up thinking not much in evidence.

:-0

Oh dear Rollo it is so frustrating for you and worse for your Mother. I hope things get sorted satisfactorily and that the care offered improves.

Hope things improve rapidly Rollo and that your mother can get proper care very soon.

When things are going well, the NHS is excellent.
When they're not, as in your mother's case, it's appalling.

I do hope the situation will improve now that you've, justifiably, made your displeasure known. <3

I do hope things improve for your mother from now on

Keep nagging, keep appearing, it sounds too much like the hospital my friend's relative was in :-(

I have concluded, even in non-serious medical situations, the NHS cannot do joined up thinking or communication ( even when they mean well).

Hope things improve now you have tackled the consultant.

I wanted to move her up to a private hospital in London but now thanks to the delays it is too risky for such a move.

Most of the people are competent and friendly despite the pressures. However there is little evidence of coherent management or the use of modern IT. Pagers!!!
The NHS also seems to see acute health care as 8:30am - 6pm Monday-Fri.

grinds teeth

Be vociferous and WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN, Rollo.

One nearby hospital displays the same lack of interaction between departments but another is superb. It's hit and miss methinks.

I hope things improve, Rollo.

I do hope your mother's health and the care she is receiving improve rapidly. Your mother will need your support so keep making your presence felt and keep the doctors on their toes.

Thankfully my experience of the NHS has been good but I can understand how frustrated you must feel at the moment.

Hope things get sorted Rollo <3 <3

Rollo I hope that your Mum gets the care that she needs and will feel more comfortable and improve before too long.

Sounds a bit like the lack of looking at hubbies notes to see his underlying health problems on Lewy Body Dementia and Alzheimer's

They took the easiest for them way for them to neglect his needs and make him easier to forget what his problems were

I won't forgive the hospital that they didn't see him as a person who had needs they didn't give

Admitting to many of the lack of care items after he had passed away and our daughter put in a complaint doesn't make it ok

They operated this afternoon, she came around ok.
All the effort needed to get it all together has left me drained.
She has a new hip ball so I suppose she is now a retread.

There seems to be an inertia in the nhs against very old people such that no great effort should be made. God help those that don't have friends and rellies who are able to fight their corner.

thank you all for your support

<3

Pleased to hear the Op went OK.

Try and have a good night's sleep ready for the battles ahead - pain management, OT, home visits etc etc.

If she's too lethargic or tired to feed herself, assuming you have the time, go in during at least one meal time a day & help her. In my experience - 2 parents, 4 different occasions in 2 hospitals - staff welcome an additional helping hand so they can focus on the 'red tray' patients.

Over the last 5 years I have seen the insides of 4 major hospitals and one small one, from A&E to oncology. None of it for me, thankfully. One was bad, but has probably improved, the others were good to wonderful (in terms of staff, if not systems). It can be a harsh, alien environment though for the vulnerable and friendless :-(

Hope your Mum continues to improve. Mine (93) had a hip replacement in April and it went unbelievably well.