Jumat, 27 April 2012

Frail grandmother collapses after being sent home from hospital in a taxi at 6am wearing only her nightgown

Frail grandmother collapses after being sent home from hospital in a taxi at 6am wearing only her nightgown

By James Tozer

PUBLISHED: 06:44 EST, 27 April 2012 | UPDATED: 14:58 EST, 27 April 2012


A frail pensioner was sent home from hospital alone and wearing only a nightie at 6am, her family claimed yesterday.

Beulah Parr, 83, had been admitted the night before after falling out of bed in her sheltered housing accommodation.

She was sent home in a taxi, dropped off in the car park of the flats where she lives and collapsed once she got inside, her family say.

Beulah Parr was found on the floor by her husband Dennis after she was sent home in her nightie by Dewsbury District Hospital

Beulah Parr was found on the floor by her husband Dennis after she was sent home in her nightie by Dewsbury District Hospital

They claim they were not even told she had been admitted and only found out after they went to check on her and found her struggling on the floor four hours later.

Mrs Parr, who is the main carer for her 87-year-old husband Dennis, who has dementia, is now back in hospital after being diagnosed with a chest infection.

Her family claim that being discharged in the early hours made her condition worse. Her son-in-law, Richard Smart, said yesterday: 'It is medical negligence. The hospital just thought this is an old lady, she has seen better days, let's get rid.

'It is absolutely shocking. I wouldn't treat a dog like that.'

He added: 'She has been back in hospital for nearly a week now.'

Mrs Parr's ordeal, at Dewsbury District Hospital, emerged on the day the Daily Mail revealed that an elderly dementia patient was discharged from a different hospital at 2am because bosses said it was 'in her best interests'.

Eileen Hansbury, 89, had suffered a suspected broken nose in a fall.She was taken back to her care home in an ambulance.

Her family accused Warrington Hospital of being more interested in freeing up beds than protecting her interests.

Earlier this month it emerged that up to 400,000 NHS patients were discharged between 11pm and 6am last year.

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust said they were looking into the family's concerns

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust said they were looking into the family's concerns

Mrs Parr, a retired seamstress who also has a blood disorder and sight problems, fell out of bed at the flat she shares with her husband in Wakefield, West Yorkshire on April 17.

Her husband pulled the emergency cord and she was taken to AE at about 11.45pm.

When she returned home she collapsed again, and her frail husband was unable to lift her up or raise the alarm.

Mr Smart said the driver of the ambulance who took her to hospital had told him he specifically asked AE staff to contact her family, but they did not

He added: 'She was put in a taxi with an unknown male driver and was wearing just a nightie. If we had not found her she could have been lying there for hours. We have been told it could have developed into pneumonia.'

Eileen Hansbury was sent back to her care home at 2am

Eileen Hansbury,who suffers from dementia, was sent back to her care home at 2am

Mrs Parr was referred back to hospital later that day by her GP. She is being treated for the chest infection at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield.

Her husband, who served with the Royal Engineers in the Second World War, is receiving respite care.

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust chief nurse Tracey McErlain-Burns said: 'I am sorry for any distress that Mrs Parr and her family have experienced as our aim is to provide the highest possible level of service.

'We have spoken with the family directly and are looking into their concerns.'

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I'm convinced that instead of all these department heads in the UK who seem to organise everything, NORMAL citizens could do a much better job using common sense instead of 'experience' ...

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Yet again another example of the uncaring, incompetent and unfeeling NHS. This attitude seems to permeate through all areas of our NHS. It is time to stop treating the NHS as a "Sacred Cow" that should not be challenged; it is not FIT FOR PURPOSE. The NHS should be completely privatised with patients choosing who they go to for treatment. The cost of treatment would be borne by the Government on the basis of completed successful treatments. The NHS is one of the largest employers in the world - it is an employing facility rather than a caring organisation

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Sue c. Portsmouth ....if NHS workers like you know what is going on and do nothing about it then you are as bad as the people who are doing wrong in the NHS .....how do you sleep at night !!!!!!!!

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Find every single person involved in the decision making process and strike them off. That will make sure can't do it again. But of course that won't happen, spineless jobs worths will wring their limp hands and protect them all!

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@anon, Nottingham - did you actually read ALL of the article? ...'Explaining that Mrs Parr had family contact details with her, son-in-law Richard Smart said: 'We’ve asked her if she asked them to contact us. She said she certainly did. That’s why she had the address book with her.'

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sue c , portsmouth, I don't agree that this is the only way. Reduce the salaries of those managers whose only interest is saving money. Many are accountants who do not have a clue about the staff and patients. Stop paying huge salaries to agency nurses and employ more full time nurses. Stop giving health care free to people. who have never paid tax into this country unless they are seriously ill. I read an article which said many Eu countries are not paying this country when their citizens on holiday receive Health treatment. ANNETTE, SCOTLAND

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When there are articles in the Nursing Times where Nurses are being told that it is acceptable to keep patients on trolleys in corridors because there aren't enough beds in the hospital for people that need admitting, something has to be done. It is unfortunate that this woman has since returned to hospital but if there is nothing wrong with someone and they are able to go home, what is wrong with sending them home from AE whatever the time? It is supposed to be 24 hour care, not everything stops when it gets dark.

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Patients have been sent home in the night for years. AE isnt a BB

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sue c , portsmouth, 27/4/2012 14:15 Perhaps when you have found a new job you could let the national papers know what you do know about our NHS,

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sue c , portsmouth, 27/4/2012 14:15 Perhaps when you have found a new job you could let the national papers know what you do know about our NHS,

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