Poor care at Lewisham
It’s been a frustrating and confusing time since Wednesday when Abigail was transferred to Lewisham hospital for surgery to correct her gastric reflux problem. We have felt quite disillusioned and disappointed as the superb care and attention to detail of the Queen Elizabeth hospital seems to have been replaced by misunderstanding and poor care at Lewisham.
Prior to transfer, the QE told us they expected Abby to be moved specifically for surgery at Lewisham since all other avenues of controlling her reflux had been explored. They even mentioned this Monday 16th as a possible date for surgery. But once Abby had been moved, Nix spoke to an associate specialist who seemed to give the impression that surgery was not at all inevitable and that some of the tests already done at the QE would have to be repeated. Abby would also be put through some alternative feeding regimes despite the fact that these had already been tried and had failed at the QE. Later, Nix spoke to Abby’s consultant who seemed more positive but said that surgery would be more likely the following week (23rd onwards). Already there seemed some confusion or miscommunication between us and/or the hospitals about Abigail’s care plan.
Nix visited Abby again at 10.30am last Thursday where she found her curtains closed, she had not been bathed or had her skin creams applied and she was wearing the same clothes that Nix had dressed her in 24 hours previously. The following day Nix visited again at 10.30am and Abby was again not dressed for the day and her daily bath and skin cream regime had also not been done. When questioned about this, nurses said that they had presumed that Nix “did all that”. Clearly no one knew of our social and home life circumstances that mean that we are not always able to be there to do these jobs. Thankfully, the nursing staff were very apologetic and helpful once the situation had been explained.
Abigail was put straight onto a continuous feeding regime via pump. Nix expressed her concerns about this as it was the first thing that the QE tried when Abby was admitted with feeding problems in late December. It was abandoned a short time later as milk was pooling in Abigail’s throat causing her to choke. Again, Lewisham seemed intent on maintaining this plan and still do. Nix asked to speak with a consultant and was told to be at the hospital for 9am on Saturday for the morning ward round.
Nix and I both went in yesterday for 9 o’clock and were told that the ward round didn’t actually begin until 10am. When they eventually got to us, the doctors took Abby’s notes and discussed her case outside the room without seeing Abby or us and then moved on. All this despite a verbal request from a nurse that “the parents would like to speak to you” and a written comment to that effect in her notes. We were not at all pleased. When the doctors were bleeped at our request to return to the ward and speak with us they were unable to. We’ve also had some problems with dressings that Abby is allergic to being used on her face despite written and verbal requests not to use it. Hopefully we’ve now resolved that situation.
All in all we feel that much of the care at the QE has been disregarded in favour of Lewisham’s own agenda without any consultation with us or regard for our opinion or situation.
Today (Sunday) I spent the whole morning with Abigail who was very settled and sleepy. Some good news is that her anti-convulsant medication really seems to be working well now – she doesn’t appear to have fitted at all recently. I finally managed to speak to an on-call consultant this morning who cleared up a few of the queries and concerns we’ve had. She said that it’s not that they don’t trust the opinion or care from other hospitals but that they must be absolutely sure of the reasons for surgery before operating. Although we were told that at least one of the tests for reflux would be repeated, it hasn’t been done yet and doctors seem to be concentrating on her feeding regime at the moment. The consultant admitted that current attempts to work through options other than surgery seem to be failing and that surgery was now almost certainly going to happen soon. She said she expected a date to be set for some time within the next two weeks.
Although all our worries about Abby’s care have yet to be answered, we are now a little more confident that she will get the surgery she appears to require very soon. We are just hoping that once it’s completed and she’s stable, Abby can be moved back to the QE hospital to recuperate where the staff know her and where we can visit her much more easily. We are hoping to catch Abby’s consultant surgeon on his round tomorrow for more details.
Prior to transfer, the QE told us they expected Abby to be moved specifically for surgery at Lewisham since all other avenues of controlling her reflux had been explored. They even mentioned this Monday 16th as a possible date for surgery. But once Abby had been moved, Nix spoke to an associate specialist who seemed to give the impression that surgery was not at all inevitable and that some of the tests already done at the QE would have to be repeated. Abby would also be put through some alternative feeding regimes despite the fact that these had already been tried and had failed at the QE. Later, Nix spoke to Abby’s consultant who seemed more positive but said that surgery would be more likely the following week (23rd onwards). Already there seemed some confusion or miscommunication between us and/or the hospitals about Abigail’s care plan.Nix visited Abby again at 10.30am last Thursday where she found her curtains closed, she had not been bathed or had her skin creams applied and she was wearing the same clothes that Nix had dressed her in 24 hours previously. The following day Nix visited again at 10.30am and Abby was again not dressed for the day and her daily bath and skin cream regime had also not been done. When questioned about this, nurses said that they had presumed that Nix “did all that”. Clearly no one knew of our social and home life circumstances that mean that we are not always able to be there to do these jobs. Thankfully, the nursing staff were very apologetic and helpful once the situation had been explained.
Abigail was put straight onto a continuous feeding regime via pump. Nix expressed her concerns about this as it was the first thing that the QE tried when Abby was admitted with feeding problems in late December. It was abandoned a short time later as milk was pooling in Abigail’s throat causing her to choke. Again, Lewisham seemed intent on maintaining this plan and still do. Nix asked to speak with a consultant and was told to be at the hospital for 9am on Saturday for the morning ward round.
Nix and I both went in yesterday for 9 o’clock and were told that the ward round didn’t actually begin until 10am. When they eventually got to us, the doctors took Abby’s notes and discussed her case outside the room without seeing Abby or us and then moved on. All this despite a verbal request from a nurse that “the parents would like to speak to you” and a written comment to that effect in her notes. We were not at all pleased. When the doctors were bleeped at our request to return to the ward and speak with us they were unable to. We’ve also had some problems with dressings that Abby is allergic to being used on her face despite written and verbal requests not to use it. Hopefully we’ve now resolved that situation.
All in all we feel that much of the care at the QE has been disregarded in favour of Lewisham’s own agenda without any consultation with us or regard for our opinion or situation.
Today (Sunday) I spent the whole morning with Abigail who was very settled and sleepy. Some good news is that her anti-convulsant medication really seems to be working well now – she doesn’t appear to have fitted at all recently. I finally managed to speak to an on-call consultant this morning who cleared up a few of the queries and concerns we’ve had. She said that it’s not that they don’t trust the opinion or care from other hospitals but that they must be absolutely sure of the reasons for surgery before operating. Although we were told that at least one of the tests for reflux would be repeated, it hasn’t been done yet and doctors seem to be concentrating on her feeding regime at the moment. The consultant admitted that current attempts to work through options other than surgery seem to be failing and that surgery was now almost certainly going to happen soon. She said she expected a date to be set for some time within the next two weeks.
Although all our worries about Abby’s care have yet to be answered, we are now a little more confident that she will get the surgery she appears to require very soon. We are just hoping that once it’s completed and she’s stable, Abby can be moved back to the QE hospital to recuperate where the staff know her and where we can visit her much more easily. We are hoping to catch Abby’s consultant surgeon on his round tomorrow for more details.
posted by The Freestones at 4:44 pm
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