NHS cancer care

Hi

I do hope that all this, as distressing as it is, is just a blip and that your father's care improves dramatically. As you say, it's a tough enough time without all the hassle of bureacracy gone mad!

Thinking of you all

Maxine xxx

Hi does your dad have a social worker, if so involve them, if not tell them he cannot be discharged without a careplan in place otherwise they will assume you and your family will be the carers by default because they just want to free up the bed. Sorry but you will need to continue to fight and sadly not all macmillan nurses are good but do ask to speak to the one at the hospital.

I do hope you get something you are all happy with in place and that your dad gets the care he deserves.

take care and thinking of you

john

Cover  at weekends is notoriously poor. As Johnr has said, you will need to keep on at the powers-that-be in order  to get the proper help. We had similar battles when my elderly in-laws were dying . They were the lucky ones because there were poor souls in adjacent beds who had no family around to fight their battles.

Hope things improve.

KateG

My husband, recently passed away from along illness mesothelioma aged 54, like you i found any back up care extremly lacking, we  only ever got to see a macmilan nurse, on the appointments with the oncologist, we did get to visit the local hospice a couple of times, and i did phone for advice a couple of times , i was always told to phone our gp or out of hours drs, not once did we have any home visits from macmilan or the hospice, i was just left to get on with it,eventurly after a week of being sick, and not eating and having trouble breathing, our gp said it was time for him to go into hospital, our gp  phoned for an ambulance that took 5 hours to arrive, we then waited 4 hours before a dr even botherd to look at him,he was eventuly admitted to an admissions  ward,he was in a very bad way by this time,, he stayed on this very busy ward for 3 days each day he became worse, and i was told by the dr that he could die at any moment i had been asking for a side room or for him to be moved to a proper ward or the hospice since he arrived , as i wanted him to have some peace at the end of his life, on the 3rd night he evently got a side room, i did not hardly leave that room for the nexst 3 days, and slept on the plastic chair, i was lucky on one of the nights to be givern a pillow,only for it to be takern away the nexst day as they needed it for a patient,what im trying to say, i felt that because my husband was terminal, i was left to do all the care day and night, at home and even when in hospital, because when i asked for help when my husband was complaining of being  uncomftable we waited so long for a nurse that i did it myself, althrough the nights i was left to get on with it, im not blameing the nurses,they had so many ill patients to look after they never stopped, im so glad i stayed with my husband, because i know he got the best care i could give him. I feel sorry for those patients that have no family, and who would wait hours for simple things like a bed pan or a wash in the mornings,

When my wife was in an acute hospital they were only too keen to ship her off to the hospice, as they didn't have the staff to give her the care she needed.

John