[Misc] Man starves to death in hospital

[Springal]

Surprised this isn’t bigger news - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-68251142.amp

Man with Down’s syndrome lives with his parents his whole life, has to move into a care home - where he breaks his hip within 24 hours, goes to hospital where he’s left to starve to death.

And the compensation is £15k ?!

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Surprised this isn’t bigger news - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-68251142.amp

Man with Down’s syndrome lives with his parents his whole life, has to move into a care home - where he breaks his hip within 24 hours, goes to hospital where he’s left to starve to death.

And the compensation is £15k ?!

Quite a shocking story. I really do not understand how a patient can be left unfed for 9 days; how did they not notice?

15k is the statutory limit according to the article...that also clearly needs looking at.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Broken hip, dementia, Down’s syndrome and difficulty swallowing so the odds were stacked against the poor guy. Guess he wasn’t able to communicate that he was hungry, but there’s no excuse for not feeding him intravenously. Shameful.

 

[Hamilton]

Can I just enquire as to where the ‘family’ were during this nine day period?

This is a shocking story, and when something is too hard to believe there is always more context at play.

 

[Weststander]

Shocking, poor soul.

Why’s it not huge news today? Because it was 3 years ago and it’s yet another case of hospital medical negligence. The NHS pay out over £2b a year for claims, revealing a vast number of catastrophic blunders.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Broken hip, dementia, Down’s syndrome and difficulty swallowing so the odds were stacked against the poor guy. Guess he wasn’t able to communicate that he was hungry, but there’s no excuse for not feeding him intravenously. Shameful.

Wasn’t able to communicate? But he was in hospital, surely his daily tests and examination would have flagged up something was wrong?

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Wasn’t able to communicate? But he was in hospital, surely his daily tests and examination would have flagged up something was wrong?

The fact that his notes said “nil by mouth” meant that he should’ve automatically had an intravenous drip feed. This was ignored. I’m not defending the hospital staff, for this gross incompetence.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

The fact that his notes said “nil by mouth” meant that he should’ve automatically had an intravenous drip feed. This was ignored. I’m not defending the hospital staff, for this gross incompetence.

Fair enough. I guess they forgot the drip. But I just don’t understand how his deterioration wasn’t flagged up by the l routine daily tests you have when you’re in hospital.

 

[Perfidious Albion]

Absolutely shocking. This comes after hearing of the woman left unattended in A &E and then died. This poor man fell and broke his hip in the night. I wonder if , like me he did it while urgently getting to a toilet?
We all know medical staff are stretched but no excuse.

 

[Springal]

Can I just enquire as to where the ‘family’ were during this nine day period?

This is a shocking story, and when something is too hard to believe there is always more context at play.

The fact he was in his 50s and went in to care probably means something happened or respite was needed.

Regardless he was in the care of the NHS who let a man die through negligence in their care.

 

[AlbionBro]

Horrific story but unfortunately it could be common place, I know of a late eighty-year old man went in who was diabetic and had dementia and wasn't fed for 6 days. The son told me he was shoved in a corner and left alone. The son went in to visit and could not believe how thin he was, he asked to see a doctor, but they were striking so got what appeared to be an apprentice junior doctor. If such a person exists?
She said I will check his food diary and when she came back admitted it had been 6 days since he ate anything, she said sorry we must check more often. The son has since complained and it appears the striking meant they were stretched. He has since had a stand up row with the junior doctors on their picket line.
They had no guilt in the lack of care they were giving at all.
It's a sad world.

 

[maltaseagull]

So many horror stories. How on Earth can anyone fix the NHS?
Money has been thrown at it with no improvement for decades.

 

[Weststander]

So many horror stories. How on Earth can anyone fix the NHS?
Money has been thrown at it with no improvement for decades.

Smaller units or a reorganisation, where staff can and do take ownership of a patient’s care and needs? Too easy to be lost in the system and workload.

 

[Mustafa II]

So many horror stories. How on Earth can anyone fix the NHS?
Money has been thrown at it with no improvement for decades.

There are countless good news stories too. But unlike the bad news stories, the good news stories don't often make the news.

It's an absolutely massive organisation. The biggest employer in the world. From time to time there will be failings amongst all of the successes.

But of course, the powers that be want it privatised. For that to happen, it needs to have failings and British people need to believe it is failing.

My colleague (aged 33) has just returned to work after a year after a horrific period of his life undergoing chemo. He's doing well, not completely out of the woods yet, but he cannot speak highly enough of the NHS which has hopefully saved his life.

 

[Zeberdi]

There are countless good news stories too. But unlike the bad news stories, the good news stories don't often make the news.

Because if people are healed as a result of treatment by the NHS that is not a news story. That is what the NHS/medical profession is supposed to do or at least first do no harm.

And it is not true that the NHS is under appreciated or the public/media don’t value the work staff do - that was glaringly obvious during Covid. It is also obvious from the public sympathy for NHS strikes that people’s love of the NHS is as strong as ever.

However, Pollyanna attitudes and pushing back with how great the NHS is every time we hear an incident of negligence/breakdown in patient care, well that is just trying to silence the very real issue and one doctors and nurses are constantly trying to raise - that years of underfunding/investment/cutbacks has created a situation where patient lives are at risk because of significant understaffing and a lack of recourses in key areas not least in having enough duty doctors and nurses to cover ward care.

 

[Weststander]

An aging population and people of all ages with a higher expectation of healthcare has meant the levels of funding for the NHS exponentially increases year after year. As @Weststander implies, services need to be better integrated and management of scale.

This is something already that is being looked at and is already beginning to be implemented at primary care level

Improving health and care at scale

The early work of integrated care systems at the forefront of improvement at scale.

www.nhsconfed.org

I’m got some secondhand knowledge from Mrs.W who’s a specialist NHS nurse in several areas. It’s not just money, she talks about; disjointed thinking and actions, incompetence, avoidable waste, a lucky dip where someone in trouble e.g. a pensioner who really shouldn’t be at home anymore on their own might strike lucky with a practitioner who cares and stays with them demanding the right intervention, versus a not my problem it’s the end of my hours and I’m off home.

 

[maltaseagull]

Because if people are healed as a result of treatment by the NHS that is not a news story. That is what the NHS/medical profession is supposed to do or at least first do no harm.

And it is not true that the NHS is under appreciated or the public/media don’t value the work staff do - that was glaringly obvious during Covid. It is also obvious from the public sympathy for NHS strikes that people’s love of the NHS is as strong as ever.

However, Pollyanna attitudes and pushing back with how great the NHS is every time we hear an incident of negligence/breakdown in patient care, well that is just trying to silence the very real issue and one doctors and nurses are constantly trying to raise - that years of underfunding/investment/cutbacks has created a situation where patient lives are at risk because of significant understaffing and a lack of recourses in key areas not least in having enough duty doctors and nurses to cover ward care.

Decades of Governments Tory or Labour have invested increasing billions.

What does seem to happen is that more and more money is wasted by senior management's inefiencies.

 

[Weststander]

Decades of Governments Tory or Labour have invested increasing billions.

What does seem to happen is that more and more money is wasted by senior management's inefiencies.

Inadequate social care (local authorities) is the greatest issue. If the proper funding was in place, the NHS and hospitals wouldn’t be the dumping ground / last resort for everyone in need.

 

[Zeberdi]

What does seem to happen is that more and more money is wasted by senior management's inefiencies.

I’m afraid that has always been the case with the NHS - my mother worked as a senior nurse in the Health Service and back in the late 70s when I had just started working with the NHS in Brighton, at the now closed Bevendean hospital, we were standing in a room together with a Consultant ( who was very close to retirement age ) that she had just finished a clinic with. We were talking about exactly that - he said, and I have never forgotten it: “The problem with the Health Service in this Country is that there are too many Chiefs and not enough Indians” - that was over 40 years ago.

I am not blaming the current state of the NHS all on the Tories - Blair continued the quasi privatisation policies initiated in the Thatcher era that arguably directed resources away from the NHS and yes both parties have invested billions but under the Tories, the funding gap has got wider and the administrative work that frontline healthcare workers now have to carry out is bordering on the insane and takes away the time devoted to patient care: Just for example - the last time I was rushed to hospital, the paramedic spent the entire journey of 25 minutes filling out paper work in addition to all the paperwork he had done at the house when they picked me up.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/nhs-crisis-rishi-sunak-conservative-labour-austerity-privatisation/

 

[Thunder Bolt]

About 20 years ago, my husband’s great aunt had a stroke, so was unable to speak, admitted to hospital. Her son was away on holiday for a fortnight, so the hospital staff didn’t know she was also very deaf, and didn’t have her hearing aids with her. The meals are served by HSAs rather than nursing staff, who are stretched to the limit. Her plate was put down and taken away again, and she was unable to move her arm to feed herself. Fortunately someone made sure she had some fluids. When her son returned, he read the riot act to the doctor & nurses. She then started to pick up, but it was a close thing.