‘Dementia link to sudden low blood pressure and dizziness’
October 13, 2024
An 84-year-old dementia sufferer was left without food or water for five days when her operation was repeatedly cancelled.
Irene Lowe was put on a strict nil-by-mouth regime as she prepared to undergo surgery on a broken shoulder.
The operation, at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, was put off because the specialist consultants due to carry it out were unavailable.
The grandmother was still in hospital yesterday, 18 days after she broke her shoulder in a fall at her home in Longton, Staffordshire, on August 25.
The operations were cancelled between August 30 and September 3 – she finally went under the knife on September 4.
Her furious daughter, Christine Barnes, 52, has criticised hospital staff who left her feeling like the treatment was ‘a joke’.
Ms Barnes, from Dresden, Staffordshire, said: ‘The operation kept being cancelled because emergencies kept coming in from as far away as Wrexham.
‘I understand that, but why was an 84-year-old lady left with no food or water for so long, it made her ill.
‘My mother fasted from midnight on the Thursday, all the next day, only to be told the operation was cancelled at 7pm.
‘On Saturday, they let her have a light breakfast, then she fasted again, with no food or water, but the same thing happened again.
‘On Sunday, it was the same and she had to go on a drip, because she was so dehydrated.
‘The same thing happened on Monday and Tuesday before she finally went had the operation on Wednesday.’
Mrs Barnes’ sister Caroline Knight, 58, from Trentham, Staffordshire, said: ‘My mother was distraught.
‘Even on the Wednesday the operation nearly didn’t happen. It only went ahead because we were complaining.’
Trish Rowson, associate chief nurse, said: ‘Due to the complex nature of the surgery Mrs Lowe required it was necessary for a consultant surgeon specialising in shoulder surgery to be present.
‘Unfortunately, our specialist consultants can be called to urgent cases at very short notice and this affects patients awaiting surgery.
‘This unfortunate delay has thankfully not affected the clinical outcome for Mrs Lowe and we would like to wish her well with her on-going recovery.
‘I would be very willing to meet with Mrs Lowe and her family to offer our sincere apologies regarding this delay and the timing of fasting.’
Source Mail Online