my father is in hospital and he is not getting the medical help i think he needs?

Question

he has been in since tuesday and has deteriated rapidly and noone is telling us what is happening he isnt sleeping and he is totally confused how do i go about going private as i need help quick he as deathly blood preessure and since being in he dosent know what day it is and not sure who he is . he was supposed to have a cat scan tuesday but still hasnt had it annd no appointment as even been set for it they say that he may have a bit of dimensour what do i do

Answer 1

Go and ask to speak to thedoctor in charge of your dad at the hospital, tell them you want to know what is going on and what is wrong with your father, tell them you are worried because nothing seems to be doing done for him and make sure you the doctor gives you some answers. As long as you are firm but respectful, you should get some proper answers. If you are still not happy ask for another doctor to take a look at your dad. I hope you get this sorted out quickly.

Answer 2

Try not to worry...hospitals disorientate most of us. I've just been through a similar situation. Yes your Dad is probably confused and maybe he has dementia but they perhaps think his blood pressure is the most important issue and will do the scan when they have that sorted. Make friends and chat with the staff they will look after your Dad and keep you informed and reassure when you are frightened of the unknown. It's horrible to have your Dad in hospital make sure you tell him how much you love him because he might be feeling a bit uncertain and can't say what he wants because he's all confused. You will know the difference between when they are doing all they can but there's not much they can do and when they are doing nothing....be patient and think positive and hopefully all will be well. Good Luck

Answer 3

Start with your Dad's GP - make an emergency appointment, Aileen - soon as you can.

If s/he is no help, contact the most senior person at the hospital you can find, and at the same time get on to his MP. MPs have an immense amount of power at a local level.

If none of these are any help, contact the local paper - all the above hate being shamed by the local press.

Good Luck

Answer 4

Hi Aileen, sorry to hear about your father.

The first thing you need to do is make the authority aware of your concerns.

You can also ask for a second medical opinion.

If you are still not satisfied you can go private if you wish. You will need to find your nearest private practice. Your GP will be able to tell you this.

If the NHS trust have been negligent in their duty of care for your father then you may have a case to go to law. You would have to find a solicitor who is a medical negligence specialist.

Hope your father makes a speedy recovery.

Good luck.

Answer 5

I trust the different concepts, get in touch with the pals (sufferers affairs liason service) and that they'll kick some **** for you. do no longer shout on the nurses cos which will do in basic terms extra injury than sturdy. I even have been run interior the process the crap with the NHS for over 2 yrs and it incredibly is the pals that finally have been given issues shifting for me. sturdy good fortune and wish year dad recovers rapidly.

Answer 6

I don't know what you can do from a legal point of view but from personal experience of when my Dad was in hospital and we felt he wasn't getting the right attention either what you need to do unfortunately is make a big fuss. Basically make a bit of a nuisance of yourself with the nurses. I don't mean be abusive or anything but keep on at them politely to do something or get a Dr around and keep on and on about it. It's a shame that we felt we had to do that but nobody seemed to want to do anything for my Dad until we did. I know nurses are overworked but it's your lovely Dad and you need to get that attention NOW.

Answer 7

you can always ask to speak to the docs and get a review for your father it maybe he is sicker than you thought, its not nice sitting round watching someone you love change like this but i would be very surprised if he wasn't getting the care he deserves also even if you go private he will still have the same consultant but a nicer room you need to speak to them don't lose your temper or accuse them just tell them your concerns. good luck

Answer 8

I'm so very sorry about this. I'm not at all sure whether it is possible to switch mid way to private treatment, but there is no guarantee that it will be better, according to a very recent report in the Guardian":

"Independent providers analysed for first time
· 15% fail on at least three tests of quality and safety

John Carvel, social affairs editor
Tuesday October 31, 2006
The Guardian


Paying for private medical treatment does not guarantee a safer or better quality of care than using the NHS, the health inspectorate said yesterday in its first analysis of the performance of the independent sector.
The Healthcare commission found only 50% of the private hospitals and clinics in England and Wales met all the required minimum standards when they were inspected in the 2005-06 period, compared with 49% of NHS trusts.

About 15% of the independent providers failed on at least three tests of quality and safety. NHS trusts had to comply with more standards and their comparable failure rate was 19%.

The most frequent lapses in both sectors included lack of systematic monitoring of treatment provided, poor standards of staff training and inadequate procedures to minimise risk of infection. About 14% of pregnancy termination clinics in the private and voluntary sector failed to deal with the infection issue properly."

Anna Walker, the commission's chief executive, said standards in the independent sector were "pretty much the same" as in the NHS. It was hard to make direct comparisons and the commission wanted a change in the law to put all establishments on the same footing. But it was fair to say private and voluntary hospitals were no better or worse than the NHS.

Ms Walker said the private sector has been inspected against the standards since 2000 and might have been expected to secure a better pass rate than the NHS, where the standards were introduced for the first time this year. But tests for the private sector were more detailed and might be considered tougher.

About 2,000 independent hospitals and clinics in England and Wales charged about £10.3bn in 2005-06 for services ranging from acute surgery to tooth cleaning and tattoo removal - about 14% of total spending on health. In most cases the bill was paid by insurers or by patients, but the total also included NHS patients who had operations at independent centres funded by the taxpayer." (full text on http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/news/0,,1935606,00.html).

I saw on the following link that for a cat scan it is important for the patient to remain as still as possible. Is that the trouble with your dad, I wonder? http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:01N2E10ZhBgJ:www.spine-inc.com/glossary/c/ct-scan.html+cat+scan+procedure&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7 Perhaps they feel that he would be terrified of going into that tunnel and would try to sit up, if he has symptoms of dementia.

I think that when relatives look as if they mean business, ask questions and take notes, then perhaps explanations are more forthcoming. Have a notebook, record what's going on and note people's names. That's all I can advise you.

I wish you and your dad all the very best at this troubling time.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

may be you should hire an attorney, one of my friend's dad went into emergency care 2 days after a minor cut, didnt get checked properly and unfortunatley passed away after 2 weeks. or contact a specialist and have them visit the hospital may be they can advice something