'Bed-blocked' OAP's 3-month hospital stay
DISMAYED relatives of a Swansea pensioner claim she has been stuck in hospital for weeks when she could have been treated at home.
Mike Asals and his wife Kim said Mike's aunt, Marjorie Carr, had been "bed-blocked" at Singleton Hospital through no fault of her own.
-
They also believe that a key reason Miss Carr, 84, was there in the first place was because she had been discharged too early from Morriston Hospital following a knee replacement operation on April 20.
Miss Carr, who lives alone in Sandfields, developed a blood clot in her leg three days after being discharged on April 24.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Sunday, May 26 2013
At the time, Mr and Mrs Asals, of Killay, were on holiday in the Far East. They said they would have been around to help if the operation had not been postponed from earlier that month. They were distraught to hear while abroad that Miss Carr had been taken by ambulance to her empty home.
Since being admitted to Singleton on April 27, Miss Carr has remained in Ward 3 where she picked up an infection, further delaying her recovery. It is estimated to cost the NHS up to £400 a day per hospital bed.
The local health board has now brought forward her discharge date and said it would review her case to see if lessons could be learned.
But Mr and Mr Asals claimed that once her blood clot had been treated, these daily checks could and should have been done by a community nurse, allowing Miss Carr — whose sight is impaired but who is otherwise medically well — to be at home where she wanted to be.
"Her knee is OK," said Mr Asals. "The issue is about dispensing the correct number of (Warfarin) pills.
"Nobody seems to want to take responsibility. She is dying to get out."
He also claimed Miss Carr had gone into Singleton a "feisty woman" but was now "worn down into acceptance".
He said his aunt's case was serious given the closure in recent years of Fairwood Hospital on Gower — which helped patient rehabilitation — and local health bosses' publicised drive for "enhanced recovery after surgery" to keep beds free for acute services.
Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board (ABMU) has flagged up the need to strengthen links with social services to ensure elderly patients in particular are not stuck in hospital for longer than necessary.
An ABMU spokeswoman said it understood Miss Carr and her relatives' frustration and apologised for any inconvenience.
"Mrs Carr has been given a July 30 discharge but we are working with our community resource team to see if we can put support in place to allow her home earlier," she said.
"We accept there may have been opportunities to discharge Miss Carr earlier and we will now be reviewing her case."
She added: "Blood clots can develop after knee replacement surgery. It has, however, taken some time for her condition to stabilise, and she has needed daily checks to modify her medication."
Has a relative of your's been stuck in hospital? Call us on 01792 514606.
richard.youle@swwmedia.co.uk
Comments
by susiqzz
Saturday, July 21 2012, 2:25PM
“Some years ago I turned up to collect my late Father from hospital to take him home. Social Services had promised to organise a package of care that he needed for the final few months he had left. They had failed to do so but, as he was so devastated I packed him up and started to leave anyway, promising him I would arrange it myself. The social worker stopped me on the way out and informed me that, even though it was entirely her fault that the care package hadn't been organised, if I took a step further, I would be marked as discharging him "against medical advice" and "have to face the consequences", despite the fact that he no medical need to be in hospital. Families are "Damned if they do" and "Damned if they don't". I did take my Dad home and stood up to Social Services...but they made it very difficult at a time when we really needed their help.”
by TaipeiSteve
Saturday, July 21 2012, 12:50PM
“While in Far East, the Asals' could have learned a good lesson in family care. In Taiwan (where there is a world class medical welfare system), for example, a nephew and niece placed in the same situation would have definitely taken in the old lady and administered her medication.
While I sympathize with Miss Carr, I also feel that families here should reach out more to their relatives and friends. In some situations, financial or other constraints may not allow families to take in old or sick relatives, but in many cases we reject them purely because we feel that they are troublesome.
In modern-day UK, it all too common for loving parents to be unceremoniously dumped in a care home when they get old or are infirmed. Personally, I wonder what is is the pride in being an economically developed nation when we lose our basic humanity.
Apologies for the slight digression, but I strongly feel that this is an issue that we as individuals and as a society need to examine.”
by siarad2
Saturday, July 21 2012, 9:29AM
“"discharged too early from Morriston Hospital"
One hospital makes a mistake but another carries the expense.
Na once you're out of the operating theatre you're cured so should go according to Bed Manager think who seemingly over-rule clinicians”