Family tells of 'appalling' care at Dorset County Hospital (From Thisisdorset)

Whilst this is clearly a distressing experience, I fail to see how this poor woman's dignity has been preserved via this story.

The daughter of this lady was told "Not my patient" when she complained. Here lies the problem in todays nursing. Wards have named nurses for each patient and a great majority of these nurses think that this means that they only attend to their patient. I once received a reprimand for getting an elderly patient out of the toilet and was told this patient was not in my team. We need to get back to basics in nursing through all this silly teamwork out of the window. Nurses do a great and difficult job but are often caught between the devil and the deep. Many people who receive bad treatment complain only to their friends more should complain through official channels, which all hospitals have. It is only through such complaints that the service will be improved.

I spent several months in Dorchester hospital and never knew who my named nurse was. The toilets were often dirty at night from diarrhoea which I reported, but this was considered to be the cleaner's job not the nurses so they were not cleaned until the next day. How the hospital gets good ratings I cannot imagine. My best wishes to Mrs Jordan for a speedy recovery and return home.

I wish the NHS never existed. That way I would not have been mislead by public opinion as I grew up and would have obtained private health insurance. Now I'm in trouble.

All i can say is speak as you find, like many others I am sure I would not be here today without the excellent care I received from all our local N.H.S from the paramedics to the surgeons and nurses alike. Yes this case sounds distressing and I am not about to comment on something I know nothing about, but before everybody starts jumping on the bandwagon lets us just remember all of the good work they do, we the British are always very quick to complain but never so quick to give praise or credit where its due. My best wishes to Mrs Jordan for a speedy recovery and return home.

There are other things which this report doesnt mention.I am aware that there are wards at dch where there are only 2 and sometimes one trained nurse on duty for 25 patients or more,generally there are only 3 nursing auxillarys to support the trained nurse.When nurses express concerns they are brushed under the carpet.This ladies daughter is to be applauded,perhaps now one of the(many)managers may sit up and take notice when nurses highlight poor staffing.In the high pressured environmemt of healthcare it is often the basics that are the first thing to go

If Mrs Jordans daughter was so conserned why didnt she stay with her poor old mum and take care of her CARE needs, having your bum wiped is not a medical need, if she could not give up her valubal time she could have contacted a care company that would have been able to provide someone at mrs Jordans expense.
The word hospital is a clue it is not a care home.
My son has been hospitalised on many occasions and every time I stay with him and provide his every day care, Perhapse Mrs Lambert should give her mum the time and care her mum gave her when she was little and could not do things for her self!!!!!!

caz maz wrote:
If Mrs Jordans daughter was so conserned why didnt she stay with her poor old mum and take care of her CARE needs, having your bum wiped is not a medical need, if she could not give up her valubal time she could have contacted a care company that would have been able to provide someone at mrs Jordans expense. The word hospital is a clue it is not a care home. My son has been hospitalised on many occasions and every time I stay with him and provide his every day care, Perhapse Mrs Lambert should give her mum the time and care her mum gave her when she was little and could not do things for her self!!!!!!

So what about people who don't have any family to care for them?!

I agree with Caz Maz, what kind of daughter would leave their mother in hospital if they thought the care was so appalling!! I also wonder if Mrs Jordan (who it sounds like is still in hospital) realises her picture is plastered over the front of the local paper? This is no way to respect a senior member of the community's dignity. I am consistenlty shocked that people think its ok to raise these issues through the press without talking to the people concerned first. If thats the actions of a loving family, Mrs Jordan would be better off without her daughter, lets hope she has other family who really do care about her and her needs.

Once again the Echo web page brings out the caring members of the community like cazmaz and lolacola? - how on earth can you try to divert the blame onto the daughter while conveniently turning a blind eye to the way this woman was treated?

And as for whining about 'respecting this woman's dignity' - after the treatment she received this is just sickening.

Still - I suppose if we all follow the Government and NHS advice to exercise and cut down on fat, fags and booze, we can all look forward to growing old and being neglected in this way.

I agree with lolacola
how could a daughter leave her mother in hospital when she thought the care was so appalling!
Did the daughter not think to escalate her concerns 10 days ago rather than wait and go to the paper!
Did the daughter not feel she could speak to a sister or matron at the time she had concerns.
We all have a duty of care who ever we are. Do some people turn a blind eye until something gets bad and then complains.
Its a shame the press can print what they like even if peoples alligations have not been proven.

I agree with cdaisy. Having worked in DCH I can agree that there are no where near enough nurses on each ward. However, I am sure each nurse has at least a couple of managers. Perhaps some of them would like to spend time on a ward and see what pressure the staff are under. More complaints like this and maybe something may be done about the situation. I am surprised however, that her daughter let the situation continue as long as it did, I would have been up in arms straight away calling for action.

There are three sides to every story, your side, my side and the truth. My family (6 of us) have only ever had excellent care from DCH in over 20 years.

This is a tragic story which could have been handled in a more appropriate way than using the press as a first port of call. Has no one heard of 'PALS'? This stands for Patient Advisery Liason Service. If the ward nurses followed by the ward sister are unable to resolve a complaint satisfactorily, then PALS is the way to go. This is the official channel that anyone can access to lodge a complaint in the hospital (not just the relatives, but patients also). I agree that the way Mrs Jordan was allegedly treated is totally unacceptable. However, Mrs Jordan's daughter should have followed official channels first before resorting to the Dorset Echo who lets face it, will print any old rubbish just to shift a few copies!!

I agree with many of the comments above. I have received good care at DCH in the past but my last experience was awful, caused specifically by understaffing. I didn't blame the nurses, they were clearly working flat out, but the nurse who found me in the morning was appaulled. As an adult I was not allowed to have a relative stay with me over night to help. I was reduced to tears by the care I received and I would never wish anyone to suffer that especially not an elderly, frail lady. My best wishes to Mrs Jordan. I do hope the management listen to this article.

How people love to criticise the vulnerable, we were in a similar situation as the unfortunate Mrs Lambert and her Mother last December with my Father, who was admitted to Barnes Ward with a chest infection. His stay was a short one from Dec 12th until Dec 21st when he died on the ward unexpectedly of a sudden heart attack. Whilst visiting him on a regular basis his tablets were often found untaken and still in their plastic pots, similarly meals were untouched (he had suffered a stroke 12 years previously and did require some assistance in eating), he was not encouraged to get out of bed to aid mobility by 'some ' members of staff while others encouraged it at all opportunities. As soon as you entered the ward the smell of stale urine hit you like a brickwall and the floors were sticky underfoot, bins were left unemptied on successive days and the alcohol hand sanitizer dispensers were frequently empty, also a fellow patient had been left on the floor for an hour before anyone helped him back into bed.
Now, if Mrs Lamberts situation is in anyway similar to ours, the priority is toward the member of your family and the belief that the wards staff are in fact looking after the patients therein. Communicating (be it on the wonderful disfunctional automated telephone system or face to face) with some of the members of the department was in itself difficult, if they didn't know because 'that wasn't their patient' then they were waiting on a visit from a consultant or waiting on something else.
All we were concerned with was getting Dad out as quickly as possible, and as stupid as it seems, we didn't want to make waves while we still had 'someone on the inside' and then following his sudden death (he was expected out on the Monday but died on the Sunday) priorities were suddenly changed.
Now hats off to all those 'big hearted people' who said if you 'care' you would take them home and look after them yourself, well in the real world things don't work like that. Generally people go into Hospital because they have to and not because they want to, so despite wanting someone to come home isn't going to make it happen any quicker! After all it isn't a care home is it? it's a Hospital!
To close, my best wishes to Mrs Jordan and Mrs Lambert, and having worked in DCH I have seen the top heavy middle mis-management and the inconsistancies in working practices.

notreally wrote:

caz maz wrote: If Mrs Jordans daughter was so conserned why didnt she stay with her poor old mum and take care of her CARE needs, having your bum wiped is not a medical need, if she could not give up her valubal time she could have contacted a care company that would have been able to provide someone at mrs Jordans expense. The word hospital is a clue it is not a care home. My son has been hospitalised on many occasions and every time I stay with him and provide his every day care, Perhapse Mrs Lambert should give her mum the time and care her mum gave her when she was little and could not do things for her self!!!!!!

So what about people who don't have any family to care for them?!

Like I said call a care company there are many in the book!
I never said take them home I am sure anyone offering to stay with an elderly person to provide there care will not be turned away ( my mum wasnt when she stayed to look after my nan).

yeah can go with this...but would like the echo to now counter-balance this item with ...how many nurses have beeb physically abused, sworn at, insuted by the patiences that they are trying to help....its a difficult job nowadays.........

This is a sad story and i say story because it is based on the ranting of a very uncaring daughter and nothing else, we can all find fault anywhere even in the N.H.S which as we all know is not perfect but we do not live in a perfect world and never will, this is borne out by the fact that Ann Lambert felt the need to humiliate and embarrass her mother even more than she already has been by the shear nature of her illness and go to a rag like the Echo instead of taking any issues she might have had up with the hospital direct. It’s very easy to dump our parents etc in a hospital and expect them to get 5 star treatment it is also very easy to consult with the staff as to what you can do to help and i think the latter is what most loving relatives would do, that has certainly been my experience. The treatment and care my family and i have received at the hospital has always been first class, it is interesting to note that Mrs Lambert is a primary school teacher if she had been a teacher of any higher grade i would be most alarmed as you expect teachers to be reasonably educated and be able to communicate with other people without the recourses of the local rag, but like they say you just can’t get the staff nowadays even in our schools it would appear.
I would like to wish Mrs. Jordan all the best for the future even with her daughter.

Some time ago my mother, who was in a nursing home had a chest infection and admited to D C H. My mum had a stroke and the only word she could say was no. The ward was informed and all went well. The day she was due to come out she was moved to an other ward to waite for transport. She had to waite all day on my way home from work i went in to see her she was very upset and although she could not talk, the years since her stoke we had found ways to understand what she was trying to say. She let me know that she had not had anything to drink all day, when i asked the nurse why she said every time i ask her if she wants a drink she says NO.
To say i was angry would not realy cover it. This was a break down in communication that with an elderly person getting over a bad illness that could have leed to a prolonged stay or worse.

Why do people insist that the first place to turn to is the local paper? The local press is NOT the way to handle something like this until the situation is resolved and both sides have had their say and an inquiry held - then it may be in the public interest.
.
The NHS is not perfect but I wouldn't want to live without it. In the USA for example one can expect to pay £1000 per month for healthcare insurance which may not cover everything. At least if you keel over in the street with a heart attack the NHS will be there to put you back together. In the USA likely you would be turned away or bankrupt.
.
We have private HC which we pay about £100 per month for and covers me and my wife. It is an extra secuity barrier so that should something need doing then we can choose when and where and have it done in relative comfort.
.
If one wants to have a Norwegian class national health care system then we'd better start digging into our pockets and expect to pay 50% income tax.

bungy wrote:
Some time ago my mother, who was in a nursing home had a chest infection and admited to D C H. My mum had a stroke and the only word she could say was no. The ward was informed and all went well. The day she was due to come out she was moved to an other ward to waite for transport. She had to waite all day on my way home from work i went in to see her she was very upset and although she could not talk, the years since her stoke we had found ways to understand what she was trying to say. She let me know that she had not had anything to drink all day, when i asked the nurse why she said every time i ask her if she wants a drink she says NO. To say i was angry would not realy cover it. This was a break down in communication that with an elderly person getting over a bad illness that could have leed to a prolonged stay or worse.

So the day your mother is coming out of hospital would it really have been that difficult to spend the day with her assuming she needed transport or if she didn’t you could have collected her, what happened was unfortunate but understandable in a busy environment like a hospital, nursing staff might be angels but they are not mind readers.

How long before somebody comes on here to complain that the nursing staff didn’t put their mum’s teeth in soak every night. WAKE UP PEOPLE take some responsibility yourselves, like siratb says if you want a better system than the N.H.S then you can have it if you are prepared to pay for it, myself i think we get very good value for money.

popup wrote:
How long before somebody comes on here to complain that the nursing staff didn’t put their mum’s teeth in soak every night. WAKE UP PEOPLE take some responsibility yourselves, like siratb says if you want a better system than the N.H.S then you can have it if you are prepared to pay for it, myself i think we get very good value for money.

So basically you're saying if you expect to not be left covered in your own poo, you should fork out and go private.

popup wrote:

bungy wrote: Some time ago my mother, who was in a nursing home had a chest infection and admited to D C H. My mum had a stroke and the only word she could say was no. The ward was informed and all went well. The day she was due to come out she was moved to an other ward to waite for transport. She had to waite all day on my way home from work i went in to see her she was very upset and although she could not talk, the years since her stoke we had found ways to understand what she was trying to say. She let me know that she had not had anything to drink all day, when i asked the nurse why she said every time i ask her if she wants a drink she says NO. To say i was angry would not realy cover it. This was a break down in communication that with an elderly person getting over a bad illness that could have leed to a prolonged stay or worse.

So the day your mother is coming out of hospital would it really have been that difficult to spend the day with her assuming she needed transport or if she didn’t you could have collected her, what happened was unfortunate but understandable in a busy environment like a hospital, nursing staff might be angels but they are not mind readers.

We did not get told she was coming out, we had told the staff on the first ward that she could only say no and for the 2 weeks she was on the ward no problems and the first i knew she had been moved was when i went the the ward i thought she was in. Due the her condition and as she was going back to a nursing home she had to go by ambulance. The point is for a day she did not get feed or a drink as a vital bit of information was not passed on.

notreally wrote:

popup wrote: How long before somebody comes on here to complain that the nursing staff didn’t put their mum’s teeth in soak every night. WAKE UP PEOPLE take some responsibility yourselves, like siratb says if you want a better system than the N.H.S then you can have it if you are prepared to pay for it, myself i think we get very good value for money.

So basically you're saying if you expect to not be left covered in your own poo, you should fork out and go private.

So you know this to be a true account of what really happened, NO you have read the ramblings of an uncaring daughter in what is at best a third rate paper and you believe it all to be true, are you really that naive. There may well be some truth in it i don’t know but i suspect that the truth is another story. One of the wonders of our modern age is the mobile phone which most people have, most are capable of taking photo’s so it would seem pretty obvious to me that if it was really that bad i would have taken photographic evidence before seeking somebody to remonstrate with at the time instead of humiliating my mother in the local paper. Our N.H.S is a wonderful service maybe not the best in the world but by no means the worst and certainly very good value for money, but what we are talking about here is relatives taking a little bit of time to care about their loved ones instead of just dumping them at the door like so much dry cleaning to be picked up later.

popup wrote:

notreally wrote:

popup wrote: How long before somebody comes on here to complain that the nursing staff didn’t put their mum’s teeth in soak every night. WAKE UP PEOPLE take some responsibility yourselves, like siratb says if you want a better system than the N.H.S then you can have it if you are prepared to pay for it, myself i think we get very good value for money.

So basically you're saying if you expect to not be left covered in your own poo, you should fork out and go private.

So you know this to be a true account of what really happened, NO you have read the ramblings of an uncaring daughter in what is at best a third rate paper and you believe it all to be true, are you really that naive. There may well be some truth in it i don’t know but i suspect that the truth is another story. One of the wonders of our modern age is the mobile phone which most people have, most are capable of taking photo’s so it would seem pretty obvious to me that if it was really that bad i would have taken photographic evidence before seeking somebody to remonstrate with at the time instead of humiliating my mother in the local paper. Our N.H.S is a wonderful service maybe not the best in the world but by no means the worst and certainly very good value for money, but what we are talking about here is relatives taking a little bit of time to care about their loved ones instead of just dumping them at the door like so much dry cleaning to be picked up later.

How do you know she did not take any "photo's" or remonstrate with anybody? How do you know her mother didn't agree to being in the paper? I agree, the NHS is a wonderful thing (and a lot more wonderful than the other 'wonder' you speak of, the mobile phone). Of course it could all be made up, but I am confused by your resolution to dismiss what you have read and completely turn the whole thing on its head. This is a story about the (alleged) maltreatment of a vunerable person. Do you not have even the slightest concern that, even if the daughter should have done things differently, this is still a terrible thing, and should not be allowed to happen?

popup wrote:

notreally wrote:

popup wrote: How long before somebody comes on here to complain that the nursing staff didn’t put their mum’s teeth in soak every night. WAKE UP PEOPLE take some responsibility yourselves, like siratb says if you want a better system than the N.H.S then you can have it if you are prepared to pay for it, myself i think we get very good value for money.

So basically you're saying if you expect to not be left covered in your own poo, you should fork out and go private.

So you know this to be a true account of what really happened, NO you have read the ramblings of an uncaring daughter in what is at best a third rate paper and you believe it all to be true, are you really that naive. There may well be some truth in it i don’t know but i suspect that the truth is another story. One of the wonders of our modern age is the mobile phone which most people have, most are capable of taking photo’s so it would seem pretty obvious to me that if it was really that bad i would have taken photographic evidence before seeking somebody to remonstrate with at the time instead of humiliating my mother in the local paper. Our N.H.S is a wonderful service maybe not the best in the world but by no means the worst and certainly very good value for money, but what we are talking about here is relatives taking a little bit of time to care about their loved ones instead of just dumping them at the door like so much dry cleaning to be picked up later.

You seem to know a lot.
I do take exception to dumping like dry cleaning.
When my mum, who had nursed my dad for a number of years with our help was a widow for just a year when she had 2 big strokes. After a long stay in 2 hospitals she had to go in a nursing home, my sister and i spent a lot of time looking at homes, it was not an easy thing to do but with much soul searching and with the suport of our siblings who no longer live in Weymouth we did it. To pay for this her house was sold.

My mum worked from the time us kids could be left, my dad did 2 jobs to pay for this house, we did not have holidays but my mum and dad thought at least they would leave us a little nest egg.
This went to pay for mums care. We all felt that at least mum was looked after well.
At no time did we dump my mum and as for my family that live away they felt great guilt.
So before you rant on about more than one side to a story take time to think

If you complain `in house' it is more likely to be swept under the carpet . Complain in a widely read newspaper and management of the hospital are more likely to sit up and take notice which may lead to a better quality of care .

Well said Bungy Weymouth. There are many factors involved with caring for elderly relatives, such as other familiy members who may need carers help, distance, carers own health,age of carer. Many people today who care for elderly parents are pensioners themselves. It is easy to be judgmental but until one has walked in these shoes it is best to keep opinions to oneself.

How easy it seems to be to slag off the NHS.Whilst I agree it is reasonable to expect that your basic needs will be met in hospital(and the allegation in this instance is that they were not),there are so many factors which appear to be ignored by posts.
Trained nurses are very thin on the ground on some wards,I know of instances where 1 trained nurse has been left on her own with just 3 health care assistants to help.How can any trained(or untrained)nurse be expected to provide 5 star care under these circumstances.I know that 99.9%of nurses care passionatly about their patients and do not take any pleasure in having to make someone wait a little longer than is deemed acceptable,for drinks/the toilet etc etc.Do the maths,1 nurse+25 pts!!!!Rather than jumping on the "lets blame the nurses"band waggon,people should be going to the top of the chain(ie executive director level)with specific examples,I know many nurses do this but it appears to have little/no impact.Lets dispell the myth that nurses dont care,because I know for a fact that they do!

I understand Mrs Jordan was addmitted to hospital suffering from 'uncontrolled diarrhoea and confusion'.
Mrs Jordans daughter points out about the excrement on her mothers cloths and commode.
Can anyone imagine looking after a confused patient with uncontrolled diarrhoea.
One minute the patient is clean then lthe next munite they are covered in excrement.
This cycle will continue through no ones fault.
Confused patients with uncontrolled diarrhoea may cover themselfs and things around then excrement without any thought.
The cycle continues you care for the patients needs and the confusion and diarrhoea continue.
Through no fault of anybody.
You could care for the patients needs 10/20 times per day but in between they will always be a time when the patient is covered with excrement.
Is this what happened to Mrs Jordon?

Can this be the same Dorset County Hospital which has won such outstanding ratings? There is no doubt that complaints are met with a barrage of excuses and complaining to the Echo will ensure there is a real investigation, rather than putting off the complainant. I know, I used to work at DCH.

"So basically you're saying if you expect to not be left covered in your own poo, you should fork out and go private. "
.
Or the NHS needs to change, and we the people need to dig into our pockets, pay more taxes, and pay for it.
.
Personally I'm happy with the choice I have. I *choose* private healthcare while I can afford it, and if I have to use it, it gives me a better standard of service for routine stuff, and also eases the burdon on the NHS. So I am doing you all a favour ;)

I haveing read the comments with great intrest. how can some people comment about thing
s they know nothing about .Ihave spent several spells in D.C.H. over the last twelve months on several diferent wards only to find all the staff from doctors nurses down to cleaners very polite and and help full nothing to much troubel no matter how busy they were thank you all for the wonderful job you do.