Then This Happened

Daddy had to go into hospital.

The staff at the nursing home were not happy with his response to the treatment of a recent throat infection. They thought it might have reached his chest In addition he was dehydrated. They can't do intravenous treatments in the home so he had to go to hospital.

He was admitted to A&E for assessment at around 2.30pm. I stayed with him until 7, then
my brother took over. The overworked staff in A&E do their very best in the hardest of circumstances but there are not enough of them. The unit is poorly designed and poorly equipped. To tell you the truth it is a scarey place.

Daddy was the oldest and frailest person there but the majority of patients were 60+. Some of them had waited for endless hours on uncomfortable trolleys. I actually saw one man who'd come in by ambulance laid on a mattress on the floor as all the trolleys were in use. After they'd decided to admit Daddy they told me that he would probably have to stay in A&E until morning at least. At that point I insisted he got a bed with a ripple mattress. When the bed came I was so relieved for him I almost wept. But the mattress was wrong so I had to keep on insisting on a ripple mattress. It came several hours later. It also took a long time for cot sides to be produced. I think a porter I got friendly with eventually nicked them off another patient.

Maybe some of the hardworking staff thought I was a demanding bitch but that is how I had to be to protect my father from the short comings of the modern National Health Service.

Please God he'll be stable soon that he can return to his angels in the nursing home.