‘Dementia link to sudden low blood pressure and dizziness’
October 13, 2024
When someone close to you is terminally ill it’s difficult enough without having to deal with poor care from the hospital as well.
Newsbeat listeners have been sharing their stories after a report found thousands of dying patients are suffering needlessly.
The organisation that deals with NHS complaints in England found many failings. The government says improving end-of-life care is a priority there are examples of excellent care in hospitals.
We’ve put together some of your experiences, good and bad.
Naomi with her mother
Naomi’s mother is being cared for in an NHS hospital.
“I want to stand up for the NHS. My mum has terminal cancer and the care she has been given has been fantastic.
“They’ve respected the wishes of both her and my dad and the rest of the family the whole time.
“She was on the same ward, we knew the nurses by name and they knew us by name. We had the same doctors… so we could get to know them and ask any questions.”
Nathaniel Richards with his father
Nathaniel’s dad died four years ago.
“He was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He only lived four months after diagnosis. It hit me like a bus.
“The hospital was average, barely adequate, because they did the bare minimum to make sure he was OK.
“They were very restrictive about how many could visit so we had to take it in turn to visit him at his bedside.
“When he did get released home for a few weeks we got no instructions on how to administer the medication, the morphine.”
Lauren Thompson with her grandfather
Lauren got a job at a hospice after being impressed by the care they provided for her dying grandfather.
She thinks there are better resources in a hospice: “It’s got its own private car park, you know what nurse or doctor is assigned [to the patient]; and they sort of get to know your family which makes a huge difference.”
“We’ve got to turn away a lot people at the hospice, because we just don’t have the beds to do it and the demand is so high.”
Meg works for the NHS – and spoke to Newsbeat without her employer’s permission.
She says she wishes she could do more to help dying patients.
“I find it really heartbreaking when we’re unable to provide the care for patients that are end-of-life.
“It can be really hard on an acute ward, it’s busy, it’s noisy. You’ve got people coming in and out all the time.
“Hospice staff are really well trained to do what they do. They get to know their patients, their families, which is something that nurses aren’t able to do on an acute ward.”
Source BBC Newsbeat