Rubbish day at penguin towers

[plastic penguin]

Where do I start? Mrs. P has 3 daytime carers. The early morning carer took her to the toilet. Trying to transfer from wheelchair to toilet, she couldn't lift herself. This is due to Covid: She should have physio every week to keep her muscles strong. For the last 3 years you can count the amount of physios she's seen on one hand.

As a consequence she fell on the bathroom floor. She couldn't move. Dialed 999 at 7.30am, the ambulance didn't arrive until 11.15 am.

She was taken to Royal Surrey hospital. She's fine but they are giving her physio tomorrow as she has a damaged the knee cap.

Stay with me.

8pm this evening she phoned me to ask if I can take food in. The kitchen is closed. Not happy, because it's an hour and half round trip. She suffers from coeliac disease, which means no gluten, barley, malt and some grains.

I ring the hospital back and was cut off 3 x, and when I eventually spoke to the ward nurse about her food. "Don't know who told you that, we don't like food that's brought in".

They are trying to sort something like a sandwich out for her.

Stressed? Not many. Tomorrow can only get better. Please...

 

[michael hoy]

Hi PP, sorry to hear about your wife and hope she can return home soon.
Take care of yourself as well.

 

[Al ears]

Where do I start? Mrs. P has 3 daytime carers. The early morning carer took her to the toilet. Trying to transfer from wheelchair to toilet, she couldn't lift herself. This is due to Covid: She should have physio every week to keep her muscles strong. For the last 3 years you can count the amount of physios she's seen on one hand.

As a consequence she fell on the bathroom floor. She couldn't move. Dialed 999 at 7.30am, the ambulance didn't arrive until 11.15 am.

She was taken to Royal Surrey hospital. She's fine but they are giving her physio tomorrow as she has a damaged the knee cap.

Stay with me.

8pm this evening she phoned me to ask if I can take food in. The kitchen is closed. Not happy, because it's an hour and half round trip. She suffers from coeliac disease, which means no gluten, barley, malt and some grains.

I ring the hospital back and was cut off 3 x, and when I eventually spoke to the ward nurse about her food. "Don't know who told you that, we don't like food that's brought in".

They are trying to sort something like a sandwich out for her.

Stressed? Not many. Tomorrow can only get better. Please...

Horrendous, and my thoughts go out to you.
I can fully understand where you are coming from and have been.
My wife is an Occupational Therapist that has had her ability to work severely compromised because of Covid. Much of her rehabilitation work required her to visit people in their own homes, much like a physio I guess, but they haven't been allowed to do so. Things are only now returning to normal.
I myself work for a Mountain Rescue Team and we have had incidents where, once we have extracted casualty to a place of safety we have had to wait ages for an ambulance. The last case was seven hours.....
The pressure on the NHS is incredible and is being severely played down by the Government.
This really doesn't help I am sure but I find it horrendous that the staff at that particular hospital did not let you attend to your wifes dietary needs.
I can only hope you manage to get a decent nights sleep tonight.

 

[plastic penguin]

Thanks guys. It's been a challenging day. I chased 999 for updates on 4 separate occasions, but their hands were tied. They couldn't give me eta. Mrs. P was stuck in one position, on her knees, for nearly 4 hours.

When the paramedics arrived they said, if she had only been on her knees for an hour she wouldn't need the hospital. Because it was 4 hours it could have a negative effect on her wellbeing, due to her disability.

The Goverment needs to seriously rethink the emergency services and the potential impact it has on hospital beds.

 

[Gray]

Tomorrow can only get better. Please...

Sincerely hope things do get better for you both.
I had to dial 999 for an 82 year old up the road from me back in November.
After being asked which service, I was put on hold for 4 minutes.....before being told "There's currently a 12 hour wait for an ambulance"
We were lucky, it came within about 5.
Whilst in hospital he slipped and fell....came out, obviously in agony.....weeks later, doctor visit, got some cream to rub on his back.....3 months later, couldn't bear the pain any more, had an x-ray. Turned out the hospital fall had broken his back in 2 places.
The forthcoming N.I. increase is said to be exclusively for health and social care. Something needs to change, but with increasing demands on it, who's optimistic?

 

[jjbomber]

Dialed 999 at 7.30am, the ambulance didn't arrive until 11.15 am.

That's pretty quick these days. In Wales you are regularly looking at double figures for a non-emergency ambulance.

 

[12th Monkey]

Really sorry to hear that, PP. The only plus is that an injured knee is better than a broken hip - something very common in falls, and which often marks the start of the end - it did with my mum.

Here's hoping for better days!

 

[plastic penguin]

She'll be home some point today, assuming hospital transport can pull their fingers out.

Not sure if it was the stress of yesterday, but as soon as my head hit the pillow last night immediately crashed out.

 

[nopiano]

She'll be home some point today, assuming hospital transport can pull their fingers out.

Not sure if it was the stress of yesterday, but as soon as my head hit the pillow last night immediately crashed out.

Thinking of you, as I had similar experiences with Dad who lived nearby in Ripley. At least the Royal Surrey is overall a great hospital, especially compared with St Peter’s in Chertsey.

Hope she gets back ok. The actual transport arrangements seemed the weakest element as several times it was called off or teams were diverted. Sadly, the NHS is in dire straits.

 

[plastic penguin]

Thinking of you, as I had similar experiences with Dad who lived nearby in Ripley. At least the Royal Surrey is overall a great hospital, especially compared with St Peter’s in Chertsey.

Hope she gets back ok. The actual transport arrangements seemed the weakest element as several times it was called off or teams were diverted. Sadly, the NHS is in dire straits.

Yes, the NHS are struggling big time. Organisation is pretty much non-existent.

 

[robdmarsh]

Where do I start? Mrs. P has 3 daytime carers. The early morning carer took her to the toilet. Trying to transfer from wheelchair to toilet, she couldn't lift herself. This is due to Covid: She should have physio every week to keep her muscles strong. For the last 3 years you can count the amount of physios she's seen on one hand.

As a consequence she fell on the bathroom floor. She couldn't move. Dialed 999 at 7.30am, the ambulance didn't arrive until 11.15 am.

She was taken to Royal Surrey hospital. She's fine but they are giving her physio tomorrow as she has a damaged the knee cap.

Stay with me.

8pm this evening she phoned me to ask if I can take food in. The kitchen is closed. Not happy, because it's an hour and half round trip. She suffers from coeliac disease, which means no gluten, barley, malt and some grains.

I ring the hospital back and was cut off 3 x, and when I eventually spoke to the ward nurse about her food. "Don't know who told you that, we don't like food that's brought in".

They are trying to sort something like a sandwich out for her.

Stressed? Not many. Tomorrow can only get better. Please...

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Hope things improve quickly!

 

[Al ears]

Yes, the NHS are struggling big time. Organisation is pretty much non-existent.

Where we are it's not so much organisation as resources.
I have just spent the day with 60 Gurkhas that were seconded from the Army as ambulance drivers. Their secondment finished today......

 

[bigboss]

Sorry to learn this PP. Best wishes for her speedy recovery. NHS has been massively challenged in recent years due to chronic underfunding, lack of adequate resources in primary and secondary care and severe staff shortage. I can't see it improving anytime soon unfortunately.

 

[plastic penguin]

Sorry to learn this PP. Best wishes for her speedy recovery. NHS has been massively challenged in recent years due to chronic underfunding, lack of adequate resources in primary and secondary care and severe staff shortage. I can't see it improving anytime soon unfortunately.

Thank you.
Yes, I think most people know the issues that you rightly highlight. Sadly it's a lack of commitment of this and previous Governments to seriously address the many issues.

 

[plastic penguin]

She's now not coming home until Friday. Even though her injuries are minor, they wanted her to work with their in-house Occupational therapist. It's a waste of time her wheelchair is still at home.

And our house has adaptions specifically for her, something the hospital hasn't got. And the longer she stays in hospital, she's taking a bed that could be used for a more urgent patient. And, of course, she's more at risk of getting Covid. Touch wood, we've been clear for 3 years.

After I screamed at the hospital and her care manager at Social Services (her care manager called the hospital as well). The result is she's definitely coming home Friday afternoon.

 

[jjbomber]

Thank you.
Yes, I think most people know the issues that you rightly highlight. Sadly it's a lack of commitment of this and previous Governments to seriously address the many issues.

Meanwhile in Wales (Labour run NHS)

Woman, 99, dies after waiting nine hours for an ambulance

The pensioner also waited several hours in a 'cold' ambulance outside A&E at The Grange University Hospital as the department had no available beds

www.walesonline.co.uk

 

[bigboss]

Meanwhile in Wales (Labour run NHS)

Woman, 99, dies after waiting nine hours for an ambulance

The pensioner also waited several hours in a 'cold' ambulance outside A&E at The Grange University Hospital as the department had no available beds

www.walesonline.co.uk

PP did say "this and previous Governments" which includes Labour.

 

[Al ears]

Meanwhile in Wales (Labour run NHS)

Woman, 99, dies after waiting nine hours for an ambulance

The pensioner also waited several hours in a 'cold' ambulance outside A&E at The Grange University Hospital as the department had no available beds

www.walesonline.co.uk

Unfortunately, the NHS funding in Wales is partially determined on the money given to us by the UK Government. It is not really party dependent.

 

[plastic penguin]

PP did say "this and previous Governments" which includes Labour.

Indeed. This has been festering for decades.

 

[jjbomber]

PP did say "this and previous Governments" which includes Labour.

That is my point. It doesn't matter who's in power, it's a mess.

 

[Edbostan]

Where do I start? Mrs. P has 3 daytime carers. The early morning carer took her to the toilet. Trying to transfer from wheelchair to toilet, she couldn't lift herself. This is due to Covid: She should have physio every week to keep her muscles strong. For the last 3 years you can count the amount of physios she's seen on one hand.

As a consequence she fell on the bathroom floor. She couldn't move. Dialed 999 at 7.30am, the ambulance didn't arrive until 11.15 am.

She was taken to Royal Surrey hospital. She's fine but they are giving her physio tomorrow as she has a damaged the knee cap.

Stay with me.

8pm this evening she phoned me to ask if I can take food in. The kitchen is closed. Not happy, because it's an hour and half round trip. She suffers from coeliac disease, which means no gluten, barley, malt and some grains.

I ring the hospital back and was cut off 3 x, and when I eventually spoke to the ward nurse about her food. "Don't know who told you that, we don't like food that's brought in".

They are trying to sort something like a sandwich out for her.

Stressed? Not many. Tomorrow can only get better. Please...

Where do I start? Mrs. P has 3 daytime carers. The early morning carer took her to the toilet. Trying to transfer from wheelchair to toilet, she couldn't lift herself. This is due to Covid: She should have physio every week to keep her muscles strong. For the last 3 years you can count the amount of physios she's seen on one hand.

As a consequence she fell on the bathroom floor. She couldn't move. Dialed 999 at 7.30am, the ambulance didn't arrive until 11.15 am.

She was taken to Royal Surrey hospital. She's fine but they are giving her physio tomorrow as she has a damaged the knee cap.

Stay with me.

8pm this evening she phoned me to ask if I can take food in. The kitchen is closed. Not happy, because it's an hour and half round trip. She suffers from coeliac disease, which means no gluten, barley, malt and some grains.

I ring the hospital back and was cut off 3 x, and when I eventually spoke to the ward nurse about her food. "Don't know who told you that, we don't like food that's brought in".

They are trying to sort something like a sandwich out for her.

Stressed? Not many. Tomorrow can only get better. Please...

So sorry of your plight. I have had dealings with my mother who is in her 90s and the consequences of finding her on the bathroom floor at midnight and the 4 hour wait for an ambulance and admittance to hospital. After her third fall we arranged for assisted care as my she lived alone. Dealing with the authorities can be so trying and frustrating.

 

[plastic penguin]

It's getting worse. Mrs P and I have tested positive to Covid. Both feeling generally okay, she has a cough and headache and I'm experiencing head cold symptoms.

 

[michael hoy]

It's getting worse. Mrs P and I have tested positive to Covid. Both feeling generally okay, she has a cough and headache and I'm experiencing head cold symptoms.

Sorry to hear that PP. are you in contact with a lot of people, you seem to have picked it up previously.

 

[12th Monkey]

Sorry to hear that - hope it gets no worse!

 

[plastic penguin]

Sorry to hear that PP. are you in contact with a lot of people, you seem to have picked it up previously.

There's always carers coming in and out of the house. They test themselves once a week, it's possible....

Other than that, I only do the shopping at the quietest periods (very early morning or just before they close.

I always wear a mask in a shop, vinyl gloves and I keep sanitizer in the car.

I go to pub on occasions but again never at it's busiest time, and I wear a mask at the bar.

Not sure how it was picked up but Mrs. has had a headache for several days before the test. Can only guess it was one of the carers.