Let me preface this piece. In the last 24 hours my grandmother has been admitted to hospital. She was admitted directly to the medical assessment unit by ambulance by her GP, who had spent the previous 48 hours struggling to work out what exactly was wrong with her. The ambulance requirement came about when the doctor understood that she was in the first floor of her house and could not walk, which as a result meant that I could not get her to the hospital myself.
My grandmother is in her late 80s, and had a range of symptoms common to a large number of possibilities. Over the course of the 48 hours prior to hospital admission, we had urine tests to screen for a UTI – these came back negative due to no infection markers despite testing positive for blood.
Her symptoms included:
- Confusion
- Nausea
- Tremors
These tremors were the reason I could not get my grandmother to the hospital myself. My grandmother became increasingly confused and shakey over the weekend, eventually being seen by a doctor at 4pm on Monday. The doctor decided that despite not presenting with symptoms of immediate concern, the best course of treatment was admission to the hospital as she could not walk herself to the toilet, which could not wait for them to diagnose her.
My grandmother arrived at the medical assesment unit (MAU) at approximately 7pm. I first called at 8pm to ensure she had arrived okay and whether there was any information or if I could visit. I was told no as the doctors were about to see her due to her recent admission but to “call back at 9pm for an update on her condition as she may not be staying in overnight”. That’s fine and totally expected. I’m used to the hospital by now as I have a mother who likes to get herself admitted each quarter.
“There’s no receptionist here, stop calling”
man in medical assesment unit
Between 9pm and 10pm I called the ward 5 times to ask for an update on my grandmother. Each time I eventually got bored of the phone ringing and hung up. I next called at 10.20pm and finally the phone was answered! I thought I would finally get some information as to what was going on with my grandmother, and if I was lucky the nurse may even give her a message from me apologising for not visiting that evening. How wrong I was. A man answered the phone, and before I could talk simply said “there’s no receptionist here, stop calling” and hung up.
This really wound me up. If I’d had a chance to explain anything to him, I may have at least been made aware of whether she was still in that ward, or if I could start getting my disabled mother ready for bed. If I had to collect my grandmother from the hospital that evening as the previous nurse suggested, I would have had to arrange alternative care. Juggling care for two relatives is hard enough at the best of times.
So let’s move forwards, I clearly wasn’t going to be getting anywhere that night. I put my mother to bed, and headed to bed myself at about 1am by the time I had got her settled in. The next morning I woke at 7am to prepare for my day ahead. My mother has carers in the mornings to help her get ready so I can get off to work on time. I decided to call the hospital for information on my grandmother whilst getting ready. I was told by MAU that she had been moved during the night, and was now in the acute medical unit (AMU). This was fantastic, or so I thought. I was still angry about my experience the previous night. I set about to call AMU to ask for an update and understand whether or not we had a diagnosis yet. I was told by the nurse that they in fact weren’t sure if they had ever recieved my grandmother to the unit. Interesting.. if she wasn’t there then where was she? It wasn’t like she could have run off anywhere. The woman couldn’t even walk!
It wasn’t like she could have run off anywhere. The woman couldn’t even walk!
By 11am, they had found her. She was there all along, but had not been processed correctly. What a relief. I asked for an update. She still hadn’t seen a doctor yet. How had she not seen a doctor despite having been moved across wards? No answer. I was told to call back again in an hour, where she would have seen a doctor. 1.30pm comes, I’m told I’m allowed to visit tonight. Though my grandmother still has not seen a doctor. She’s been in hospital for 17 and a half hours now. She has been taking up a bed for almost a full day, but she has no diagnosis and no idea how long she will be there yet. Hopefully soon we will have a solution to the problem, she will recieve treatment and be released home so as to save a bed.
Yet I cannot place blame on the doctors and nurses. They are horribly overstretched. The issue here is the cuts to their funding. The lack of staff, and the lack of communication. All the hospital here needed was a few admin staff on 24 hour rota’s with access to patient notes. This would have allowed me the information needed. Whether she would be admitted overnight, whether I would need to collect her, where she had been moved to, and whether she had seen a doctor.
We need to fight for our NHS. Less privatisation. Our doctors and nurses need to be paid more. They provide an invaluable service, and without them it would cease to exist. In that same vein, healthcare assistants require more pay, along with free training to become nurses if interested in career development. Doctors surgeries and walk in clinics need to be more freely available, with more home visits for the elderly so as to avoid hospital admissions.
UPDATE: She has now been seen by a doctor. 20 hours after being admitted she was seen by 2 doctors after the nursing team raised a complaint at the lack of care. It should not need to take another member of staff raising concern over care to get the amount of staff needed for basic care. I’m pleased to report that the nursing team also saw myself and another family member to explain the care plan and update us with all the information that came from the doctors.
Art and Angst 