78 year-old woman ejected from A&E at 0200
Her carer refused - she was still in hospital five weeks later
Not website author's wife above.
Written in December 2014
Times rounded to whole hours.
One purpose of this page is to determine why an A & E group of medics would decide that a 78 year-old sick woman would be told to go home at 2 in the morning. That decision was met with refusal and she did not come out of hospital until five weeks later and had had an operation. It proves that this was, technically, an unsafe discharge.
There is no complaint about the long waits. Inevitable in such a busy A & E.
- My wife had a hip replacement in 1995 and we had anticipated that it would fail after twelve years. She started to feel pains in the summer of 2014
- In November, it was evident by the extra pain that the hip joint and in her right foot had worsened. I phoned the surgery and a GP said call an ambulance. That was while holding on to my wife as best I could to stop her falling out of bed. Five ambulance men arrived.
- On arrival c 1900 at the main hospital, there were dozens of people and they extended to being on ambulance trolleys in corridors.
- We moved up the queue about 2030 and more paperwork. Transfer to hospital trolley - an ambulance man not associated with us grabbed her feet and heaved herover. My wife screamed.
- Around 2100, we were seen by A&E nursing staff. About 2200, a doctor came.
- Next stop, Xray.
- About 2300, news that her pelvic socket had a small crack in it.
- A lot of repetitive questions by everyone who came - "What's the problem?", "How long have you had it?" ad infinitum All went quiet at 1300.
- 0200 - Dr came to say that TDH does not need to stay overnight and that we can go. I said no. When asked why, I said that my wife is in no state to go anywhere but to a ward. Dr disagreed so I repeated that we were going nowhere. Furthermore, I would need to go home fifteen miles, collect a wheelchair, return etc.. On arrival home, I would need to take the chair out and back it down a steep slope in the dark.
- The fact that TDH had been through an ordeal hadn't registered. That she is 78 and shouldn't be expected to go through more hadn't registered. On my way home it was a monsoon. If we had returned at such unGodly hour - c 0300, that would have been the last straw.
- I made the point that I am not trained to lift or move my wife and where did the Dr think I was going to find specialist help at that time of the night. I explained that earlier in the saga at home, I had moved her right leg too far and she screamed with pain.
- The Dr announced that there were no beds and we must go, and disappeared.
- 0300 saw the Dr return to repeat we couldn't stay in A & E overnight. After 30 mins I lay on the floor using the bag of clothes etc as a pillow. Another 30 mins later and the cold had reached my bad back so I got up. I was making a statement but nobody came to see it.
- 0400 - "A bed has been found." Installed by 0430 and I left after asking when the ward round took place. Was advised 0800.
- It still remains that a lie was told about no beds earlier.
- My wife remained at the main hospital for three weeks, was transferred to our local hospital for two weeks, and came out just before Christmas.
- Who was right about refusing to leave the main hospital at 0200 and 0400?
pagetop 78 year-old woman ejected from A&E at 0200 - December 2014 here