The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Shock patient claims denied
AN ELDERLY deaf and dumb woman used sign language to tell another patient that she wanted to die because she was so ashamed at the indignity of being unable to make it to the toilet in time during her stay in hospital, it has been claimed.
The widow sought the help of a nurse to get to the toilet by pressing the buzzer next to her bed.
However, after around 20 minutes with no nurse apparently responding, the lady urinated and defecated on the bed and floor and was so upset she signed to a fellow patient with hearing difficulties that she had “had enough” of life and wanted to “join” her husband who died last year.
The heart-rending story emerged yesterday as another patient toldThe Courier of her alleged experiences of bloodied and soiled hospital sheets, dried blood on curtains and a stretched nursing staff at “breaking point” at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.
Last night NHS Fife said it was concerned to hear of the issues that have been raised. However, it did “not believe this to be an accurate reflection” of life on the wards.
Lesley-Anne Cronin (52), who recently moved from Edinburgh to Burntisland, contacted The Courier after reading onTuesday about two patients — including a man with terminal cancer — who were allegedly left shivering in their hospital beds after nurses refused to give them extra blankets.
Ms Cronin, who works as an agricultural census officer with the Scottish Government, said she “had her eyes opened” when she spent 10 days in and out of the Victoria Hospital in recent weeks, including ward 23, to investigate a gastric problem.
She said: “There was one day the nurse was putting fresh sheets on my bed when I noticed they were still soiled with blood and what looked like diarrhoea. When I said to the nurse, she didn’t respond.
“When I was being taken to get an x-ray, I was told to take my pillow in case it got stolen in my absence. I was really surprised at this.
“The other thing was all these used soiled papier-mache urine samplers strewn about the toilets. There must have been 20 of them. It was far from hygienic.
“But the worst thing was that if you pressed the buzzer to get help, it was normally a 20-minute wait. I was in the gastro-ology ward, Ward 53, and there were older people pressing the buzzers but nobody came and some had no choice but to do the toilet in their bed or on the floor. There was a real dignity issue. It was awful to see.
“One deaf and dumb woman in her late 70s/early 80s said ‘I want to go now’. She’d soiled the floor and was so embarrassed, she wanted to die and be with her late husband.
“I’m partially deaf and know sign language so was able to communicate with her. But it was an awful thing to see and completely undignified.”
Last night Caroline Inwood, director of nursing for the operational division, said: “Ward 53 is a well-staffed area and has one of the lowest sickness rates in the whole hospital.
“Following the move of Ward 19 from Queen Margaret Hospital to Ward 53 there has in fact been an increase in the number of staff.
“The buzzer system in the new building is a ‘stacking system’ whereby each time a buzzer is activated it is displayed on a panel at the nurse’s station and as each buzzer is answered it is cancelled out.
“The buzzer rings in a uniform manner no matter how many buzzers are activated and this can give the impression that a single buzzer has been activated and not answered.
“If the patient had inquired at the time this would have been explained to her.
“Patients who are immobile are given their buzzer and asked to buzz when they require assistance and are regularly helped with their personal hygiene. The nurses within Ward 53 are experienced in caring for patients with these problems.
“NHS Fife would refute claims made around personal hygiene needs. Patients with stomas and/or other bowel-related conditions can experience difficulties in managing them. New stomas can be unpredictable and occasionally accidents do happen.
“No concerns from other patients were brought to the attention of staff.
“With regard to linen becoming soiled we would expect staff to change the linen immediately.
“Patients are also advised that if they use urinals or bed pans that they inform nursing staff of this so they can be collected timeously. The toilets are checked on a regular basis.”
Jim Leiper, director of estates, facilities and capital services, confirmed laundry for all hospitals in Fife was now done in-house.
He said: “All our linen is washed at temperatures in excess of and for longer than recommended in the national guidance for the laundry of used and infected linen.
“As part of the process, packers in the laundry examine each article for stains and damage. Articles which are not fit for purpose are rejected.
“A random inspection undertaken in light of the comments raised has shown there to be no issues with stained linen and we are confident that there are no systematic problems.
“On occasion, it is possible for a small hole in linen or small stain to be missed following laundry. We have had no reports of thefts in relation to pillows or linen.”