'No dignity' claim after mother died (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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'No dignity' claim after mother died
2:30pm Monday 16th July 2012 in Health
By Dan Clough, Reporter
Joan Whiteside
THE family of a 77-year-old woman say she was not treated with proper dignity after she lay dead on her hospital bed for five hours before being taken to the mortuary.
Joan Whiteside, a mum-of-six, was admitted to Royal Blackburn Hospital last year suffering from a leaking abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).
An aortic aneuryism is a major swelling in the aorta, the body’s largest artery.
Mrs Whiteside was expected to live just 24 hours as a ruptured or leaking AAA can often cause sudden death due to the sheer amount of blood lost.
Her family said she died 12 days later at about 2pm on October 6, but notes show the death wasn’t certified until 6pm and she wasn’t taken to ‘Rose Cottage’, the name given to the hospital mortuary, until 7.30pm.
The family complained to the hospital over a number of concerns about Mrs Whiteside’s care, and have disputed the diagnosis.
Daughter Janet Phillips, of Manxman Road, Blackburn, said it was when medical notes were received by the family after the complaint went in that her real concern came to light.
She said: “It was more distressing to me that she was left in that bed for five hours.
“How is that dignified? My mother brought six kids up and was a respectable woman. She deserved better.
“We had to see her suffer like that then she was left there for all that time.
“I lay awake at night thinking about it.”
A spokesman for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We have received correspondence from the family and we are currently investigating the issues they have raised.”
The family came forward after reading about a damning survey in the Lancashire Telegraph that said patients were dying in pain and without dignity.
In Lancashire’s PCT cluster, it was reported, only 40.6 per cent of respondents rated the quality of end-of-life care as ‘excellent’ or ‘outsanding’.
Mrs Whiteside, who was a housewife, was originally from Knutsford, Cheshire, but came to Blackburn when she was 20.
She was the widow of Brian, and leaves behind children Christine, Keith, Janet, Stephen, Stephanie and Carol. She also had eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Comments(17)
mavrick
says...
4:06pm Mon 16 Jul 12
Why should these things keep happening? It seems that common sense and courtesy simply don't exist. I have to question the standards of training in the NHS at the moment.
This rundown of standards is nationwide. we all should stand up for the NHS and demand without compromises.
l m h jones
says...
5:03pm Mon 16 Jul 12
jandi56
says...
5:25pm Mon 16 Jul 12
jandi56
says...
5:25pm Mon 16 Jul 12
mavrick wrote:mavricjk you are so right that is all we have had so far
I am afraid you will get a bog standard pre prepared statement stating the circumstances will be investigated. Then the bog standard cliché of lessons will be learnt,and things have been put in place to prevent it happening again.
Why should these things keep happening? It seems that common sense and courtesy simply don't exist. I have to question the standards of training in the NHS at the moment.
This rundown of standards is nationwide. we all should stand up for the NHS and demand without compromises.
jandi56
says...
5:25pm Mon 16 Jul 12
mavrick wrote:mavricjk you are so right that is all we have had so far
I am afraid you will get a bog standard pre prepared statement stating the circumstances will be investigated. Then the bog standard cliché of lessons will be learnt,and things have been put in place to prevent it happening again.
Why should these things keep happening? It seems that common sense and courtesy simply don't exist. I have to question the standards of training in the NHS at the moment.
This rundown of standards is nationwide. we all should stand up for the NHS and demand without compromises.
jandi56
says...
5:29pm Mon 16 Jul 12
l m h jones wrote:hi i dnt think this is the fault of the porters her death was not certified untill 6pm i was with her when she passed away it takes 2 mins for a doctor or a nurse to certify a death and i cannot believe they had no-one available to do this i also wonder how many people went in her room whilst she was laid there because 5 mins after her death a cleaner came in and said can i clean, respect, what sort of people do they employ, very poor communications i think.
question for the hospital trust how many porters are on duty and available for work at any given time~? how does the hospital cover the inevitable staff who are on sick leave? what should the protocols be for removal to rose cottage? how many times in the last 12 months have these been breached because there simply are not enough porters on duty to cover the vast acreage and patient numbers at Blackburn royal?
Fire Fly
says...
7:24pm Mon 16 Jul 12
jandi56
says...
7:29pm Mon 16 Jul 12
Fire Fly wrote:i think you have got this wrong providing a nurse has done the training they can certify a death i used to work in the home for the elderly and at times district nurses came to certify a death
The law doesn't allow a nurse to certify a death, they can only confirm a death has occurred to family/next of kin etc. Only Doctors can certify death.
jandi56
says...
7:34pm Mon 16 Jul 12
Registered medical practitioners can ‘verify death’. In addition, nurses and paramedics can ‘verify
death’ as the law does not prevent them from undertaking this activity. Nurses and paramedics
have always been able to ‘verify death’. However, it has become apparent that the Department of
Health needs to reinforce this, as current clinical practice is to await the completion of a MCCD or
other documentation (e.g. medical deposition) that ‘verifies death’ by a registered medical
practitioner before a deceased body is moved from the place of death to a more appropriate
Fire Fly
says...
8:04pm Mon 16 Jul 12
jandi56 wrote:I'm afraid I haven't...nurses, district or otherwise, can (where there is agreement for it) verify an expected death but they cannot certify it.
Fire Fly wrote:i think you have got this wrong providing a nurse has done the training they can certify a death i used to work in the home for the elderly and at times district nurses came to certify a death
The law doesn't allow a nurse to certify a death, they can only confirm a death has occurred to family/next of kin etc. Only Doctors can certify death.
Verifying a death isn't the same as certifying it.
Wolf on a bridge
says...
8:04pm Mon 16 Jul 12
mavrick
says...
9:35pm Mon 16 Jul 12
But all to often the NHS is letting people down and getting away with it. The reasons are mainly political interference and not just from the politicians, senior doctors have a lot to answer for. This is our NHS and we as members of the British public have to stand up and be counted in its defence. we want a first class service and no second rate services. We call the tune and if the people who are charged with managing the NHS can,t do the job then get managers and Doctors who can. we want our NHS back and wobetide any politician of any colour who fails to deliver on this. The private Tories who really control the government need to realise that their attempts to privatise the NHS will cost them power again. In the right hands we would not be reading dreadfully sad stories like this poor family have to contend with.
I would urge every one to write to their M.P whatever party and demand that proper resources are put into the NHS immediately.
ladysal
says...
9:00am Tue 17 Jul 12
mavrick wrote:I agree. There was a time when the management structure and training systems of the hospitals worked. Then government got involved and had obviously never heard of "if it ain't broke don't fix it". We need to go back to those times: progress is not always for the best.
I am one of the NHS,s fiercest critics and passionate believers. They obviously do have good and rewarding experiences for which I am glad for the patient. But all to often the NHS is letting people down and getting away with it. The reasons are mainly political interference and not just from the politicians, senior doctors have a lot to answer for. This is our NHS and we as members of the British public have to stand up and be counted in its defence. we want a first class service and no second rate services. We call the tune and if the people who are charged with managing the NHS can,t do the job then get managers and Doctors who can. we want our NHS back and wobetide any politician of any colour who fails to deliver on this. The private Tories who really control the government need to realise that their attempts to privatise the NHS will cost them power again. In the right hands we would not be reading dreadfully sad stories like this poor family have to contend with. I would urge every one to write to their M.P whatever party and demand that proper resources are put into the NHS immediately.
Matrons and ward sisters should run wards. They should take responsibility for the cleanliness, levels of care and the training of nurses. Don't forget, when this was the case, most of the nurse training was done on the ward and didn't involve a degree. A nursing qualification meant three years, of training and the majority of that was ward based.
Medical care of the patients should be left under the care of the consultants and their junior staff.
Everyone knew their job, knew what was expected of them and there was a reason why matron was feared: if you didn't do the job properly, she was down on you like a ton of bricks.
Getting rid of all the excess layers of management: seperate cleaning sections, seperate portering sections, and umpteen layers of management would make a huge difference. Cleaners and porters etc are usually attached to a specific ward: let them fall under that wards management: the ward sister and then reinvest the money in patient care......
Leaving the lady in the bed for over 5 hours is unforgivable. Having worked in the NHS, I do know that no patient will be moved for at least an hour after death: it has to do with long standing superstition for want of a better word, as the soul is given time to leave and it is seen as a sign of respect. Frequently, patients remain longer as the ward will give all family members who wish to time to attend and say goodbye. However, this doen't appear to be the case in this situation and it certainly shouldn't take that long for death to be certified: something which is always done by a doctor. When my mother-in-law died in a nursing home, the death was verified by a district nurse, but the death certificate was signed by a doctor.
To the family: I am sorry for your loss and hope that you find the answers you are looking for. The comments above are meant as partially my view of how things can be improved and some little explanation for why certain things are done.
mavrick
says...
11:14am Tue 17 Jul 12
Miguel12
says...
2:50pm Tue 17 Jul 12
The job of nurses and other medical staff is firstly to look after the sick, to be blunt the dead can wait, it does them no harm. I may sound callous but if you were in pain and told you had to wait to see a doctor as he was busy sorting out a dead persons paperwork you may change your tune.
julespent
says...
11:26pm Thu 19 Jul 12
prince of darkness says...
2:42pm Mon 16 Jul 12