tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post7670496612018869651..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: John's Campaign - and June's and 800,000 more - by Julia JonesKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-81059797360022737862014-12-11T21:29:38.558+00:002014-12-11T21:29:38.558+00:00Dear god, Enid... That is appalling.Dear god, Enid... That is appalling.Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-63783812166399138332014-12-11T11:04:18.006+00:002014-12-11T11:04:18.006+00:00I have a very personal horror story to tell, which...I have a very personal horror story to tell, which does very much relate to this subject. I'll try to make it as brief as possible.<br /><br />As many of you already know, last year I lost my beloved David from a sudden heart attack in March. By the beginning of this year, I was still, and always will be, grief-stricken, but I was coping (and there's been a lot to cope with), and, apart from a badly sprained ankle, my health has been reasonably good.<br /><br />In late April this year, I suddenly vomited copious quantities of dried blood - terrifying as I now live alone. After two days of not eating much, I was referred to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, London, and after a five hour wait, seriously ill, shivering and alone (I'd been dropped off by a kind neighbour)I was finally admitted to a geriatric ward (well I am 60+!) where I stayed for two nights. There was no water unless you asked for it, and I wasn't allowed to eat as they were doing an endoscopy the following day. I don't want to elaborate on the ensuing errors and confusion here - it would take up far too much space - but in short, I went in as a basically healthy woman who'd been struck by something nasty (abdominal ulcers), and came out a very sick one. Six months later, I still haven't properly recovered from that trauma - next to losing David, it was the very worst experience of my life. They even managed to tick the 'dementia' box - I WAS demented, but with fury!! As for the three poor creatures sharing my ward, and who are possibly still there, I shudder to think. Yes, of course I'll support this. <br />Enid Richemonthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17218197995089241666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-90145336014823069062014-12-10T10:24:51.449+00:002014-12-10T10:24:51.449+00:00I have so very much to thank hospitals for and mos...I have so very much to thank hospitals for and most of the time I wonlt hear a word against them but this is aserious problem. I'm experiencing the clash between interests if staff above those of patients in a small, even insignificant way at the moment and I've fired my first shot in my tiny campaign. By comparison, though, this is a scandal. I read Nicci Gerrard's article in the Guardian with horror and yet realised it wasn't new to me. Now the NHS is being taken over by US aero-engine manufacturers we must be prepared to fight much harder. By the way, Blogger thinks I'm a robot for the second time this morning.Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-54568081220989605282014-12-09T19:31:00.210+00:002014-12-09T19:31:00.210+00:00I agree with Susan. Trouble is, you often learn th...I agree with Susan. Trouble is, you often learn this kind of thing when it's too late.And for what can happen to you even when you're not particularly old, try this account recently published in the Scottish Review: http://www.scottishreview.net/KatieGrant176.shtmlCatherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-18937338442179183672014-12-09T18:50:03.804+00:002014-12-09T18:50:03.804+00:00Yup - I'm considering bicycle chain permanentl...Yup - I'm considering bicycle chain permanently in handbag in case required to attach self to mum's hospt bed. The trouble is she'd hate there to be a row so best that I get me rights clear first. I discover in Bristol there is a Carer's Charter for rellies etc. If they can have one so can all the rest.<br />julia joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773900100240758504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-82295849916025378472014-12-09T17:59:09.378+00:002014-12-09T17:59:09.378+00:00From my own experience when my parents died, and f...From my own experience when my parents died, and from listening to friends' experiences, I've concluded that, as relatives of people in hospital, we should be prepared to be bloody-minded and difficult to the max.<br /><br />I don't suggest this lightly. I know that it's one thing to say you will be, and quite another in practice. It also goes against our feeling that hospitals are 'caring' and we should be polite and grateful.<br /><br />I wish that I'd been more aware of this earlier, when my parents were ill and dying. I often feel guilty that I didn't do enough for them, didn't fight their corner hard enough. I hadn't realised how necessary is is.<br /><br />I'm mentally girding my loins now for the future, for if any of my family are ill. I'm trying to prepare myself to say, 'No,' when the hospital asks/tells me to leave. To say, 'Fetch the Police/Security - and when they arrive, I'll quietly and politely explain why I'm not going anywhere. And if you have me forcibly removed, I will be straight on to every newspaper, radio and tv station and blogger I know.'<br /><br />Please don't think I'm saying, 'That's what you should have done.' I am not. I didn't do it.<br /><br />I know it won't be easy - but perhaps it would be easier if there was a support group that you could appeal to? Civil disobedience in hospitals.<br /><br />It's not only old people with dementia. I have a young friend who was seriously ill in hospital - and yet children who were in for very minor complaints were being allowed to run around the ward, screaming and playing loud music all night. My friend - who learned early that the NHS is often about convenience for the staff, not the patients - discharged herself, went home in a taxi, and was disccvered sound asleep on the sofa by her mother who had rushed home fom work to get ready for a trip to the hospital. She'd had to discharge herself and come home to get some sleep!<br /><br />Father then went into hospital and made lots of noise of his own - which must have been a formidable sight, as he is 6ft 5, lean and bearded like a Biblical prophet.<br /><br />I think we do need to be noisy, stroppy, unreasonable, angry and bloody-minded - and support each other in being so.<br /><br />Thank you, Julia - excellent post.Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-40940905327768367362014-12-09T16:18:04.449+00:002014-12-09T16:18:04.449+00:00There's nothing I can add to what has already ...There's nothing I can add to what has already been said, Julia, but I'll certainly support the campaign however I can.Mari Biellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14221256993468150226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-67725717865441293342014-12-09T10:43:45.053+00:002014-12-09T10:43:45.053+00:00Thank you all. One thing we are doing is beginning...Thank you all. One thing we are doing is beginning to collect experiences and opinions on the John's Campaign facebook page. There's a nice little threat of posts to page which even includes a +ve experience. Emailing MPs is a good one for now, then after Christmas when we have a real portfolio we get marching on the NHS itself. Politically it'll be manifesto time too.<br />julia joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773900100240758504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-4467034869543234182014-12-09T10:42:46.603+00:002014-12-09T10:42:46.603+00:00When my mum was ill with terminal cancer, I spent ...When my mum was ill with terminal cancer, I spent hours in hospital with her - not just in the hospice where she spent her last few months, but in the hospital where she had an operation to make her more comfortable. The nurses were invariably glad to see me. 'You give us one less thing to worry about and she's always better for seeing you' they said. But most of that was, I realised afterwards, down to the way in which the ward was run - the whole team was of the same mind. And it was a different story when she was admitted to another hospital later on, after breaking her leg. 'Don't think she'll get the same kind of attention in here as she does in THAT HOSPICE' said one of the nurses, viciously. I've never forgotten it and should have complained, but at the time, you are so embroiled in the pain of the situation that you don't. Fortunately, we managed to get her readmitted to the hospice as soon as possible. Add dementia to that and the situation of these patients in hospital is impossible. Most hospitals are not set up to cope with dying people and they are not set up to cope with people with dementia. They are, nowadays, there to sort you out as quickly as possible. Anything else and - in my experience - they handle it very badly. Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-36195483848013636282014-12-09T10:38:18.726+00:002014-12-09T10:38:18.726+00:00not much more to say, julia. i'll put it on my...not much more to say, julia. i'll put it on my facebook wall.Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-43255803559447488192014-12-09T09:50:36.476+00:002014-12-09T09:50:36.476+00:00I am running an SEO Training institute in Lahore w...I am running an SEO Training institute in Lahore where we are offering <a href="http://www.corporate-pakistan.com/buy-facebook-likes.html" rel="nofollow">get facebook page likes</a>. Let me say that effective blogging holds an important part for better seo. I would like to recommend my students to read this article and learn how to blog effectively?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10763115037309854981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-5760189549690040422014-12-09T09:08:52.336+00:002014-12-09T09:08:52.336+00:00I, too, have a tale of an old woman in the early s...I, too, have a tale of an old woman in the early stages of dementia abandoned in hospital - she had bed sores when she came out, sent home to a flat where there had been no heating for three months. They knew she had a chest infection, and told her to ring the GP when she got home. She fell on her kitchen floor that night, was discovered 10 hours later - still alive. She's now in a nursing home, as skeletal as a little bird. (She has no family - she is my godmother and so my concerns are dismissed as I cannot claim next of kin.)JOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03127111575563904349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-25630379347220475662014-12-09T08:33:03.054+00:002014-12-09T08:33:03.054+00:00Having lived in other countries where it is quite ...Having lived in other countries where it is quite usual for relatives to stay with their family members when they are admitted to hospital, I think our system is barbaric. If the NHS can't afford to provide enough staff to give basic personal care, the right for a relative to stay with a patient in order to look after them should be mandatory. I'm supporting this campaign as much as I can. Let me know what I can sign or send, Julia.<br /><br />A few years ago I had to leave a daughter, after a traumatic birth and an emergency caesarian, alone in a private room the hospital had given her because she was so ill. Her baby was placed in the room with her, but because she was on drips, doped with morphine, with rails on the bed, she couldn't get out of it to reach the baby, which cried all night. She also didn't have anything to drink. A member of staff put their head round the door and said they were sorry they were so busy and would come when they could. They didn't. Why couldn't I have been allowed to stay with her to give her drinks and look after the baby?<br /> <br />Technically we have a very good health service, but in terms of actual care for patients it fails miserably. The mental health area is a serious cause for concern, as well as provision for growing numbers of cases of Alzheimers. Many elderly suffers don't have close family members or devoted carers to look after them. Who is going to care for them either at home or in hospital?<br /><br />When I was a young mum, I read Margaret Drabble's novel The Millstone which was written at a time when mothers weren't allowed to stay with their children in hospital. The wards were full of the sound of children screaming for their mums - some left hospital traumatised for life. It took a huge campaign to give mothers the right to stay with their kids. We need a similar campaign now for our parents. <br /><br />OK rant over! Lovely blog, Julia - very moving. I hope some of the right people read it. <br /><br />Kathleen Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07645566938871914385noreply@blogger.com