Anguish of having doctors who do not care
WHY are some doctors still so rude to patients’ loved ones (good Health)? shortly after Christmas 2007, my mother was taken into Kingston Hospital, london, and resuscitated, despite having written a living will. I drove up from Kent to find her in great distress, with the most appalling staff sitting around gossiping and ignoring the patients. That first saturday, I refused to leave the ward until I’d seen a consultant and medication had been provided for Mum. Finally, at 10.15 pm a junior doctor told me she had pancreatic cancer and pain relief was administered. Within three weeks, she had contracted MRSA and was transferred to Teddington Memorial Hospital, having being told she would never walk again. after four months of care by the staff, she was walking unaided. Their care of me was also very good: I would arrive from Kent on a Wednesday night and return on a sunday evening. Two months later, Mum finally returned home. she then went to st george’s hospital for a follow-up appointment — and never came home. I arrived at her bedside to discover a consultant discussing her case with trainees with no involvement of the patient. I challenged his behaviour and told him and his pupils that he was a disgrace to the profession. I asked him to return within one hour as I wished to discuss with my mother what she wanted to do about her health. she decided a nursing home was the best option but stopped eating almost as soon as she had arrived. after two weeks, the nursing home insisted she should go back to the hospital. I’ve never begged for anything, but I did then and pleaded ‘anywhere but st george’s’. They sent her there anyway, and when she died the next morning, a part of my heart broke. In autumn 2013, my grandmother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and she passed over last year, and a bit more of my heart broke — but my promise not to take her into hospital was kept. Having worked as a volunteer in supportive therapies for cancer patients in Kent and Canterbury Hospital, I know it’s the listening that is most important in any decision.
KATRINA HOBBS, Guildford, Surrey. as a student nurse in the sixties, advice we were given by our excellent tutor was: ‘Remember that a condition that is commonplace to you, because you’ve nursed many people with it, is frightening to a newly diagnosed patient and their families. They often feel they’re the only person suffering from it. Treat them with care and understanding and always explain your actions before any treatment. Remember, you’re treating a person, not a condition.’ This is something that seems to have been forgotten too often in our modern service. Patients should come first.
JUDY HOWARD RGN, Neston, Cheshire.