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Good afternoon all
I am seeking advice going forward regarding my father’s death in March of this year.
To give a brief (if possible) synopsis: Dad was admitted to hospital on 13th February with high calcium levels. MRI scan confirmed cancer.
On 14th February, dad was told he had metastatic cancer in his spine, liver and spleen. He was told it was inoperable and incurable. After spending 6 hours in a chair, in pain, he was finally admitted into a ward. Not an oncology ward. He was given low levels of morphine. At this point he was mobile (only in pain getting from a sit to a stand position).
Dad was not eating. A consultant on 18th February told dad nutrition was important as was mobility. He informed dad that a dietician would be involved.
On 20th February, mum received a text message from the Plastics department that dad was to have an irregular mole on his back excised biopsied on 23rd February. I queried this immediately with two doctors. The first told me they were removing the mole. I questioned the need on the basis of a consultant telling me dad’s cancer was inoperable. The second doctor told me it was not a removal, just a biopsy to find the primary source of the cancer.
23rd February, dad had the procedure.
25th February the biopsy wound was leaking profusely. The dressing was changed.
27th February, dad said that he was really uncomfortable regarding the procedure site. I asked a member of staff to look at the dressing. It had ridden up his back, so not covering the wound site. It was soiled. I took a photograph. That same afternoon, dad was visited by a radiotherapy consultant. She offered dad therapy. I showed her the photograph and she was happy that it appeared to be healing.
28th February dad was assessed by a physiotherapist who was happy that dad could get himself mobile and did not need any additional aids.
1st March mum was called by track and triage in the morning who informed her that dad was being discharged. At 4pm, when we still had not heard anymore, I called the ward to ask if dad was still there. We assumed he would be sat in a chair waiting for discharge. I asked if I could sit with dad and was told yes. On arrival onto the ward, dad was in the postal
position, on his bed in pjs clinging onto the bed guard rail. The ward sister told us they knew nothing about the discharge. Had no idea why track and triage had phoned. Dad was begging for his pain relief (which according to palliative care nurse visiting the ward should be given on as and when required basis). The senior nurse told us there was nothing she could do as she was waiting for pharmacy to do their rounds. It became evident that dad had received no pain relief for 9 hours 23 minutes.
2nd March - visited dad early as we had serious concerns about his treatment. On arriving onto the ward, the sister told us that dad was being discharged. On arrival to dad’s bedside, something was seriously wrong. He was incredibly nauseous, crying in pain and told us that he had passed out earlier in the morning. I queried the ‘discharge’ with the sister who was adamant that dad was going home and she would arrange transportation. I ignored her and sought a doctor myself (found one sitting in an office). On attending dad, he deemed him unfit for discharge. I asked him to change dad’s dressing which he said a nurse would do. Eventually a nurse came to take dads one. His temperature was raised. She went to change the dressing. It was heavily soiled and the smell of necrosis filled the room. I took photographs before she redressed it. The nurse was adamant that dads GP or community nurse should have been changing the dressing. Dad had not left the hospital. Dad’s wound dressing had not been changed since Thursday 27th February. It was heavily infected. Dad was put onto IV antibiotics.
3rd March, we went made a formal complaint through PALS
4th March - consultant in the morning told us that dad was a seriously ill man and that in her opinion, he had weeks. In the afternoon a palliative care consultant came to visit dad. She told us we had hours.
6th March - dad died. During his final hours, he was put into a side room. Two workmen entered the room to carry out maintenance work on privacy curtains. Lots of drilling. Dad could not even die in peace or with dignity. Dad fought every last breath. The sound of him dying was and still
is torture.
11th March mum received a phone call from the coroners court. Dad’s death is being investigated and currently recorded as unnatural . Cancer aside, the coroner is investigating the biopsy wound site and hypertension. We have a date on the inquest which will be in September.
We are in stage 2 of the PALS complaint as the response to our first complaint provided more questions about dad’s care than provided answers. We are still waiting for a response as from the 16th June. The PALS officer informed us that clinicians had asked for an extension to the 29th July.
I kept a journal every day of dad’s care, conversations and as much detail as I could give during the 3 weeks from diagnosis to death. Along with photographic evidence and PALS correspondence, all of which have been added to the court file. My statement to the coroner is not in dispute nor is the medical officers statement who referred dad’s death to the coroner which states ‘the biopsy site wound infection has hastened and contributory to death’. The consultants statement is being questioned and she will
have to answer orally to both te coroners and our questions.
Mum put a request in for dad’s medical records on 16th June. We are still waiting. She was informed today that ‘the coroner has them’’. Mum has since contacted the coroner’s officer who informed her ‘we get this all the time’. They are in breach of their own timescales. What do we do?
Where do we go from here? I have initially contacted a solicitors (Thompsons) but I’ve received an email stating that they would not be prepared to take this case on. To be fair, I probably did not come across as coherent during the initial phone call. The fact that basic nursing care was not administered regarding wound dressings is just one of many issues. Dad was never put onto an oncology ward. No dietician was ever involved. Dad effectively starved during his three week ‘stay’. Pain relief was denied for an extended period of time. Is this a breach of Human Rights? Plastics department visited dad on the day he was dying (11 days after the procedure). The procedure itself we believe to have been completely unnecessary. We still do not know why a scrape, needle or punch biopsy would not have sufficed. Dad went downhill very fast after the procedure and subsequent infection. Before then, he was on low levels of morphine and paracetamol to after the procedure on the 26th February when he was put onto oxycodone which steadily increased and eventually he went onto the pump.
Do we wait for the inquest and go on from there?
I’m trying to stay focussed for my mum who had had very little time to come to terms with any of this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I am seeking advice going forward regarding my father’s death in March of this year.
To give a brief (if possible) synopsis: Dad was admitted to hospital on 13th February with high calcium levels. MRI scan confirmed cancer.
On 14th February, dad was told he had metastatic cancer in his spine, liver and spleen. He was told it was inoperable and incurable. After spending 6 hours in a chair, in pain, he was finally admitted into a ward. Not an oncology ward. He was given low levels of morphine. At this point he was mobile (only in pain getting from a sit to a stand position).
Dad was not eating. A consultant on 18th February told dad nutrition was important as was mobility. He informed dad that a dietician would be involved.
On 20th February, mum received a text message from the Plastics department that dad was to have an irregular mole on his back excised biopsied on 23rd February. I queried this immediately with two doctors. The first told me they were removing the mole. I questioned the need on the basis of a consultant telling me dad’s cancer was inoperable. The second doctor told me it was not a removal, just a biopsy to find the primary source of the cancer.
23rd February, dad had the procedure.
25th February the biopsy wound was leaking profusely. The dressing was changed.
27th February, dad said that he was really uncomfortable regarding the procedure site. I asked a member of staff to look at the dressing. It had ridden up his back, so not covering the wound site. It was soiled. I took a photograph. That same afternoon, dad was visited by a radiotherapy consultant. She offered dad therapy. I showed her the photograph and she was happy that it appeared to be healing.
28th February dad was assessed by a physiotherapist who was happy that dad could get himself mobile and did not need any additional aids.
1st March mum was called by track and triage in the morning who informed her that dad was being discharged. At 4pm, when we still had not heard anymore, I called the ward to ask if dad was still there. We assumed he would be sat in a chair waiting for discharge. I asked if I could sit with dad and was told yes. On arrival onto the ward, dad was in the postal
position, on his bed in pjs clinging onto the bed guard rail. The ward sister told us they knew nothing about the discharge. Had no idea why track and triage had phoned. Dad was begging for his pain relief (which according to palliative care nurse visiting the ward should be given on as and when required basis). The senior nurse told us there was nothing she could do as she was waiting for pharmacy to do their rounds. It became evident that dad had received no pain relief for 9 hours 23 minutes.
2nd March - visited dad early as we had serious concerns about his treatment. On arriving onto the ward, the sister told us that dad was being discharged. On arrival to dad’s bedside, something was seriously wrong. He was incredibly nauseous, crying in pain and told us that he had passed out earlier in the morning. I queried the ‘discharge’ with the sister who was adamant that dad was going home and she would arrange transportation. I ignored her and sought a doctor myself (found one sitting in an office). On attending dad, he deemed him unfit for discharge. I asked him to change dad’s dressing which he said a nurse would do. Eventually a nurse came to take dads one. His temperature was raised. She went to change the dressing. It was heavily soiled and the smell of necrosis filled the room. I took photographs before she redressed it. The nurse was adamant that dads GP or community nurse should have been changing the dressing. Dad had not left the hospital. Dad’s wound dressing had not been changed since Thursday 27th February. It was heavily infected. Dad was put onto IV antibiotics.
3rd March, we went made a formal complaint through PALS
4th March - consultant in the morning told us that dad was a seriously ill man and that in her opinion, he had weeks. In the afternoon a palliative care consultant came to visit dad. She told us we had hours.
6th March - dad died. During his final hours, he was put into a side room. Two workmen entered the room to carry out maintenance work on privacy curtains. Lots of drilling. Dad could not even die in peace or with dignity. Dad fought every last breath. The sound of him dying was and still
is torture.
11th March mum received a phone call from the coroners court. Dad’s death is being investigated and currently recorded as unnatural . Cancer aside, the coroner is investigating the biopsy wound site and hypertension. We have a date on the inquest which will be in September.
We are in stage 2 of the PALS complaint as the response to our first complaint provided more questions about dad’s care than provided answers. We are still waiting for a response as from the 16th June. The PALS officer informed us that clinicians had asked for an extension to the 29th July.
I kept a journal every day of dad’s care, conversations and as much detail as I could give during the 3 weeks from diagnosis to death. Along with photographic evidence and PALS correspondence, all of which have been added to the court file. My statement to the coroner is not in dispute nor is the medical officers statement who referred dad’s death to the coroner which states ‘the biopsy site wound infection has hastened and contributory to death’. The consultants statement is being questioned and she will
have to answer orally to both te coroners and our questions.
Mum put a request in for dad’s medical records on 16th June. We are still waiting. She was informed today that ‘the coroner has them’’. Mum has since contacted the coroner’s officer who informed her ‘we get this all the time’. They are in breach of their own timescales. What do we do?
Where do we go from here? I have initially contacted a solicitors (Thompsons) but I’ve received an email stating that they would not be prepared to take this case on. To be fair, I probably did not come across as coherent during the initial phone call. The fact that basic nursing care was not administered regarding wound dressings is just one of many issues. Dad was never put onto an oncology ward. No dietician was ever involved. Dad effectively starved during his three week ‘stay’. Pain relief was denied for an extended period of time. Is this a breach of Human Rights? Plastics department visited dad on the day he was dying (11 days after the procedure). The procedure itself we believe to have been completely unnecessary. We still do not know why a scrape, needle or punch biopsy would not have sufficed. Dad went downhill very fast after the procedure and subsequent infection. Before then, he was on low levels of morphine and paracetamol to after the procedure on the 26th February when he was put onto oxycodone which steadily increased and eventually he went onto the pump.
Do we wait for the inquest and go on from there?
I’m trying to stay focussed for my mum who had had very little time to come to terms with any of this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.