Neglect and Inadequate Care, Gastroenterology

My mother, who had advanced dementia, was cared for on Ward 10 at Heartlands Hospital. From my perspective, she seemed to experience what I felt was organisational failings in the way her care was managed. It often looked to me as though there were only two registered nurses for more than 20 patients, which made me worried about how stretched the ward felt.

My mother was frequently left in the same position, and I was concerned that this might have left her lower joints misaligned. I raised this again and again with the nurses, and my sibling even demonstrated the movements we were worried about, but I felt the staff were not always able to respond as I had hoped. There was also a discharge which, from our point of view, did not go well, and sadly she had to be readmitted to the same gastro ward.

When she became palliative, we felt that the physiotherapist was unable to offer an assessment or treatment, even on a tokenistic level, which we had hoped for as a family. She died the following day, not in a hospice, but in a nursing home. This was very upsetting for us.

In our experience, dementia patients in Birmingham and Solihull appear to be at a disadvantage compared with people with conditions like stage four bowel cancer or end‑stage renal disease. There are no specialist neurological hospices locally, unlike the cancer hospice provision in Solihull and this feels like a major gap in services.

I am unsure whether the Integrated Care Board would support improvements in this area, and I personally feel doubtful. I also feel that the local authority may be limited in how far they can challenge NHS partners, even though organisational neglect is covered as an adult safeguarding concern in the Care Act 2014.

If I make a statutory complaint to the Trust, my concern is that they would be investigating themselves, which feels difficult for families. Like other public services, they have access to lawyers and public relations advisers funded through public money, which can feel daunting when raising concerns.

I honestly felt that Healthwatch Birmingham and Solihull might not approve this message, and that it may not be displayed on this website.
Sigh.