Hi Folkes
It is again early morning and I have been trying to get around to writing an update on how this months Review Panel went.
This months panel was held again at Morston house in Newcastle at the Trusts Headquarters.
However my story starts the day before at 8:30 at night.
My Mum rang me up to see if I was able to take her to hospital the following day as she informed me that she was feeling numb in her leg and was struggling to walk.
There was something not right in her tone of voice and so I went over to see how she was.
Upon arrival I found her stuck on the chair in tears and severe pain it transpires that she had been there all day unable to move and had only had one drink of fluid at 7 am this was now 9 O'clock at night.
Her leg was not pink and very blue in colour and I knew I had to act so an ambulance was called despite her persistent protest.
So of to a Cheshire hospital we went at Crewe.
The Accident & Emergency department was heaving with many drunks stuck in front and behind my mother on trollies.
The floors were filthy the and the toilets no better than what you would find in a nightclub by 3am.
Nursing staff all running around looking for equipment, Cubicles left for long lengths of time unoccupied whilst the train of striker trollies with local drunks ran the length of the corridor and this was a tuesday night at 10pm.
My mum and many others were in this situation for around 5 hours, only to attain the status of a cubicle by around 2 am.
A doctor arrived by 3am and then everything appeared to come together Xray , Pain Management and finaly discharged by 5.30.
From a lay persons perspective there appeared to be only 1 doctor available between 9pm and 2am and then 2 doctors from 2 am onwards.
The whole experience was not good the A&E department was filthy appeared lacking in many items required for basic care and it appeared that the nurses were continually running around in chaos fetching various items the whole system appeared heath robbinson.
In future I will find any way to get my mum into a car and get her to North Staffordshire Hospital.
My mothers care could have been provided more efficiently within 5 mins the doctor had identified the problem to possibly be in the knee joint.
Over the many hours many drunks came in and went whilst my mother and genuine other had to wait.
My mums condition is arthritis and it is very advanced and the sudden onset and pain has shook her confidence.
She certainly is not amussed at her newly acquired zimmer frame.
So mum now staying with me and we just have to see how well things pan out with living back in her own home in the near future.
I asked her today if she would like a social worker unfortunately I can not print her reply however I can say it was not favorable.
On to the review panel if you are still reading lol.
The meeting was on the day when I had had little sleep however I was still intent on attendence.
At the meeting there were new faces including the two investigating officers involved in the investigations to be reviewed.
a further lay person was in attendance along with myself,
we quickly got into the depth of our questioning of the investigating officers who had been reassured that the process of our panel was not to place blame but only to look into their findings and process and to see if matters could have been carried out in a different manner or if any further issues or learning opportunities that either of the officers had possibly missed of failed to note could be highlighted.
The first case surrounded a district nurse situation where telephone calls were made and not returned.
This is something that I wanted to get into in depth as my experience of this with adult social care had been a persistent run of none returned telephone calls.
When you are a carer it is imperative that you get support for the person you care for and yourself.
If you a caring by yourself it is easy to get distressed with the failings and omissions of others.
Please remember we are all human and it is never acceptable to intimidate others, it is however important that care staff either district nurses, social workers and doctors also behave in a suitable manner.
I can assure the reader I have been unfortunate enough to be in conversation with many rude and unprofessional individuals who have probably never cared for any one in the way that we do.
Remember not all are like this.
As carers we can feel isolated and alone and the so called fly by night 15min care call does not cure all our stresses.
We live with the person we do like to feel that we know whats best for our relative.
This case highlighted a two edged sword one which shows the potential abuse towards staff which is not acceptable and the possibility to paint the carer as intimidating or abusive.
This is difficult even for me I looked at how I had been in the past with care staff at no time was I ever what I could see as being rude or abusive but I can connect with how I felt at the time when respite was pulled and how my reactions to how I was spoken to came about.
This raises the question if we feel as a carer we are not being supported we could react to conversations in a way that a professional just would not connect to.
One of my own experiences for the reader
After many months of desperately requiring respite a social worker informed me that as I had received a night sit once that I was being unreasonable and just awkward.
Ask yourself how would you react to this situation ?.
My own oppinion of this case was there was lots to learn and care staff need to be able to be proffesional in how they approach potential situations and there is a need for empathy.
Do not do this over a telephone go and talk to the carer and try to see where they are coming from.
If a carer is a little sharp or intimidating then you need to be professional and explain how you feel to the carer, remember you are there for the patient however please give these hardworking carers some understanding.
Judgement call, if someone is abusive or aggressive this is a serious statement use it wisely when reporting individuals as unnecessary use of these words is victimization and abuse of your professional position of trust.
And if a situation is genuine aggression or abuse then do not tolerate this, no one should suffer this and the individual must receive the full force of the law.
When it came to the end of the group review of this complaint it was apparent that the individual member of care staff did not feel empowered to make her position clear to the carer regarding a medical matter, This was sad and the trust is ensuring that all staff look at how they communicate directly with carers.
It was also highlighted that incidents of intimidation or abuse are not always reported and certain carers can be mildly intimidating I can understand this in part however it is imperative that you report these individuals if you cannot deal with them yourself so that a polite intervention can take place either by letter or better in person by senior care staff.
My thoughts on this when stressed as a carer go into a field and scream lol then the world looks daft.
the second case appeared to be another failure to document care by nursing staff however the learning from this had instigated in depth checks of further hospital services.
A managerial issue had been highlighted which clearly showed that the failure was not just the responsibility of the direct care nurses and had been a culture issue within the immediate management
The trust acted accordingly and specifically in the hospital in which the complaint was highlighted and went on to ensure that this could not be happening within any other hospital within the trust.
This complaint pulled at my own feelings when relatives are at the end of life, My thoughts on this case ran deep as it only takes one failure in personal care that can compound the end of life situations for the immediate family.
The patient in this case was at a difficult point in his end of life care and his family just wanted him out of hospital, unfortunately his condition was changing very frequently and the trust and its staff and nurses only wanted the best of care.
although mistakes were made initially to which the trust have admitted in full with apology this will never take away the experience for the family in those final weeks.
To his wife and family who I do not know be assured your complaint has not fallen on deaf ears.
Hope you all keeping well
It is again early morning and I have been trying to get around to writing an update on how this months Review Panel went.
This months panel was held again at Morston house in Newcastle at the Trusts Headquarters.
However my story starts the day before at 8:30 at night.
My Mum rang me up to see if I was able to take her to hospital the following day as she informed me that she was feeling numb in her leg and was struggling to walk.
There was something not right in her tone of voice and so I went over to see how she was.
Upon arrival I found her stuck on the chair in tears and severe pain it transpires that she had been there all day unable to move and had only had one drink of fluid at 7 am this was now 9 O'clock at night.
Her leg was not pink and very blue in colour and I knew I had to act so an ambulance was called despite her persistent protest.
So of to a Cheshire hospital we went at Crewe.
The Accident & Emergency department was heaving with many drunks stuck in front and behind my mother on trollies.
The floors were filthy the and the toilets no better than what you would find in a nightclub by 3am.
Nursing staff all running around looking for equipment, Cubicles left for long lengths of time unoccupied whilst the train of striker trollies with local drunks ran the length of the corridor and this was a tuesday night at 10pm.
My mum and many others were in this situation for around 5 hours, only to attain the status of a cubicle by around 2 am.
A doctor arrived by 3am and then everything appeared to come together Xray , Pain Management and finaly discharged by 5.30.
From a lay persons perspective there appeared to be only 1 doctor available between 9pm and 2am and then 2 doctors from 2 am onwards.
The whole experience was not good the A&E department was filthy appeared lacking in many items required for basic care and it appeared that the nurses were continually running around in chaos fetching various items the whole system appeared heath robbinson.
In future I will find any way to get my mum into a car and get her to North Staffordshire Hospital.
My mothers care could have been provided more efficiently within 5 mins the doctor had identified the problem to possibly be in the knee joint.
Over the many hours many drunks came in and went whilst my mother and genuine other had to wait.
My mums condition is arthritis and it is very advanced and the sudden onset and pain has shook her confidence.
She certainly is not amussed at her newly acquired zimmer frame.
So mum now staying with me and we just have to see how well things pan out with living back in her own home in the near future.
I asked her today if she would like a social worker unfortunately I can not print her reply however I can say it was not favorable.
On to the review panel if you are still reading lol.
The meeting was on the day when I had had little sleep however I was still intent on attendence.
At the meeting there were new faces including the two investigating officers involved in the investigations to be reviewed.
a further lay person was in attendance along with myself,
we quickly got into the depth of our questioning of the investigating officers who had been reassured that the process of our panel was not to place blame but only to look into their findings and process and to see if matters could have been carried out in a different manner or if any further issues or learning opportunities that either of the officers had possibly missed of failed to note could be highlighted.
The first case surrounded a district nurse situation where telephone calls were made and not returned.
This is something that I wanted to get into in depth as my experience of this with adult social care had been a persistent run of none returned telephone calls.
When you are a carer it is imperative that you get support for the person you care for and yourself.
If you a caring by yourself it is easy to get distressed with the failings and omissions of others.
Please remember we are all human and it is never acceptable to intimidate others, it is however important that care staff either district nurses, social workers and doctors also behave in a suitable manner.
I can assure the reader I have been unfortunate enough to be in conversation with many rude and unprofessional individuals who have probably never cared for any one in the way that we do.
Remember not all are like this.
As carers we can feel isolated and alone and the so called fly by night 15min care call does not cure all our stresses.
We live with the person we do like to feel that we know whats best for our relative.
This case highlighted a two edged sword one which shows the potential abuse towards staff which is not acceptable and the possibility to paint the carer as intimidating or abusive.
This is difficult even for me I looked at how I had been in the past with care staff at no time was I ever what I could see as being rude or abusive but I can connect with how I felt at the time when respite was pulled and how my reactions to how I was spoken to came about.
This raises the question if we feel as a carer we are not being supported we could react to conversations in a way that a professional just would not connect to.
One of my own experiences for the reader
After many months of desperately requiring respite a social worker informed me that as I had received a night sit once that I was being unreasonable and just awkward.
Ask yourself how would you react to this situation ?.
My own oppinion of this case was there was lots to learn and care staff need to be able to be proffesional in how they approach potential situations and there is a need for empathy.
Do not do this over a telephone go and talk to the carer and try to see where they are coming from.
If a carer is a little sharp or intimidating then you need to be professional and explain how you feel to the carer, remember you are there for the patient however please give these hardworking carers some understanding.
Judgement call, if someone is abusive or aggressive this is a serious statement use it wisely when reporting individuals as unnecessary use of these words is victimization and abuse of your professional position of trust.
And if a situation is genuine aggression or abuse then do not tolerate this, no one should suffer this and the individual must receive the full force of the law.
When it came to the end of the group review of this complaint it was apparent that the individual member of care staff did not feel empowered to make her position clear to the carer regarding a medical matter, This was sad and the trust is ensuring that all staff look at how they communicate directly with carers.
It was also highlighted that incidents of intimidation or abuse are not always reported and certain carers can be mildly intimidating I can understand this in part however it is imperative that you report these individuals if you cannot deal with them yourself so that a polite intervention can take place either by letter or better in person by senior care staff.
My thoughts on this when stressed as a carer go into a field and scream lol then the world looks daft.
the second case appeared to be another failure to document care by nursing staff however the learning from this had instigated in depth checks of further hospital services.
A managerial issue had been highlighted which clearly showed that the failure was not just the responsibility of the direct care nurses and had been a culture issue within the immediate management
The trust acted accordingly and specifically in the hospital in which the complaint was highlighted and went on to ensure that this could not be happening within any other hospital within the trust.
This complaint pulled at my own feelings when relatives are at the end of life, My thoughts on this case ran deep as it only takes one failure in personal care that can compound the end of life situations for the immediate family.
The patient in this case was at a difficult point in his end of life care and his family just wanted him out of hospital, unfortunately his condition was changing very frequently and the trust and its staff and nurses only wanted the best of care.
although mistakes were made initially to which the trust have admitted in full with apology this will never take away the experience for the family in those final weeks.
To his wife and family who I do not know be assured your complaint has not fallen on deaf ears.
Hope you all keeping well
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