December 9th 2023, my Dad went in to hospital because my Mum had done a test and found that his insulin levels had gone through the roof.
They lived in a smallholding in a very rural part of Wales, and Mum had to get an ambulance for him. He was stuck in the ambulance for hours, and then he was in a corridor in A&E for several days.
The hospital staff were lovely, but couldn't seem to understand that his pancreas didn't work, and he needed to take specific medication immediately before eating, otherwise his body couldn't digest the food. Mum kept telling them, and they just weren't listening. Her GP said he would contact them tio let them know that the timing of the medication was crucial to its effectiveness.
My brother and I, and my Uncle, visited. It was a trip we'd planned before Dad became unwell. Darling Uncle (DU) hadn't been for a long time, and it was going to be a lovely pre Christmas celebration.
It didn't work out that way.
He had been inhospital for about 4 days by the time we arrived. We were shocked at how much he had declined. He was really unwell, and had become vague and not completely with it. He has a history of suffering hospital acquired dementia, and we thought that was the case.
We were particularly shocked that A&E were talking about discharging him. The original problem was now under control, as much as it could be, and they wanted the bed. There was no way that Mum could cope with Dad in the state he was in.
I had a conversation with one of the Nurses and said that there was no way Mum could have him home like that. I said they needed to come and look at my parents house before they discharged him". It was horrendous.
Another Nurse took me to one side and told me quietly that I needed to stand my ground.
Mum realised that Dad was going to have to go into a home, so we started looking at options.
The days dragged on, and Dad got worse, and worse.
Mum was no longer fit to drive to see him, so her nearest neighbour took her to the hospital most days.
Mum got a big shock on the 20th December, They told her Dad was being discharged the following day. He was a physical and mental wreck. Mum was herself so frail at this point that she physically incapable of doing anything to care for him at this point.
We were relieved to hear that Social Services were away now until January 3rd, so we assumed that he would not be sent home before then.
He was instead moved onto a ward in the hospital.
