"Terrible care of relative in ward 5"

I don’t know where to start in my review of the terrible care my relative received. During our time on the ward visiting (end of life allowances for visiting) we witnessed poor hygiene/infection control measures on the ward. The bin in his room was literally spilling out all over the floor. In any ward this is disgusting, let alone in a covid ward. I note this is an area the hospital has already been pulled up on in inspections.

The quiet room was unclean. In the 2 days we spent on the ward, it was never cleaned. There were dirty, used mugs and half-eaten biscuits on the table (infection control on a covid ward?!)  The bed was on its side and there were pictures all over the floor. It was offered as a breathing space for us. 

Our relative was blind. We were told that he couldn’t have a TV on in his room because it wasn’t working. As soon as we arrived, we put the TV on. It was working. Nobody had checked. My blind relative was sat in a room with no TV because nobody had checked. When we initially asked about the TV, we reiterated that our relative was blind. The staff response was, ‘They’re all blind in here.’ 

Our relative had limited capacity. This issue was addressed at admission and communicated with several staff. However, upon his death, we received a call from someone who wanted to speak to him to discuss the clinical trial he was participating it. We are disgusted that proper consent was not obtained. We have received an apology for this but it is terrible practice and is a complete disgrace. 

We were told we would be notified of any changes in his care. We weren’t. He was put on oxygen and none of us knew. We spent HOURS trying to get through to the ward to no avail. Having been told we would be contacted we took some comfort knowing that if anything big happened, we would be informed. 

A DNR was also put in place without discussion with family.  

Upon calling the ward, we were asked to wait whilst the staff member checked on our relative to report back on how he was. We overheard staff discussing how pointless the meeting they had to attend was and how it was a waste of time. 

We were told initially that staff would help him mobilise to his chair because his mobility was the biggest concern we (and medical staff) had at the time. In his first few days on the ward, he wasn’t moved/helped to his chair. When asked why this was we were told there were no staff so he had to lie in bed all day. 

When we arrived, we were shocked at his appearance. His medical notes from that morning detailed that he was ‘bright.’ There was nothing bright about his condition. The room was freezing. Staff apologised and told us they had complained about the temperature of the room on every shift they had been on because it was harmful for the health of patients. Regardless of this, he had ONE thin bed sheet on him and was very cold. 

His inner mouth had medication stuck to his skin. No effort had been made to check he had swallowed his tablets. He hadn’t been given any oral care due to the condition of his mouth/tongue (which improved within hours of us being there and caring for him.) 

We were promised we could see him on FaceTime calls but this didn’t happen because the iPad apparently wasn’t working (although, given the ‘broken TV’ we have little faith in anything we were told.) 

We raised concerns with a consultant who promised to call us back. It never happened. 

We asked what he had eaten. Nobody knew for 48 hrs. We asked for a fluid/food chart to be started because it was apparent that nobody was monitoring him. Given his diabetes, we were horrified to learn this. 

When we arrived at the ward, we had a discussion with a nurse. They were, without question, the most patronising person any of us have ever met. One of my relatives was crying, watching her husband die and the nurse was jovially discussing how much they loved being in a ward because they could shave them and bath them like they used to in their early days. What that had to do with us, none of us could fathom. Even more disgustingly, we arrived to see him after he had been in hospital for over a week and we were asked what he liked to be called. He was now completely unresponsive and they had only just asked this? No ‘About Me’ was completed. Nobody bothered to check his capacity issues, despite consistently telling us he was confused. 

When we finally said he had to come home to die, palliative care told us that the care he had received was unacceptable. The nurses told us it was unacceptable. The doctors told us it was unacceptable. The healthcare workers told us it was unacceptable. 

Upon leaving, a staff member on the ward told us we had better be careful not to end up in the papers for taking our relative home to die. 

Ninewells have failed our relative and failed us in the worst way. We experienced terrible communication, untruths and poor care for someone we held dear to our hearts. We have requested a copy of all medical notes and intend on raising several concerns and complaints. No family or patient should endure what we have. I worry for the patients without advocates. What of their health and well-being? Basic human rights? We aim to make the disgraces we experienced public and refuse to accept poor practise under the banner of ‘It’s Covid, times are hard.’