Justice for diabetic patients care negligence

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Thank you for taking time out to read my mothers story, I am trying to raise funds to help my family and I to take my mothers story to be heard in the high court and to finally give my mother a place to rest at peace. If enough money and awareness is raised i would like to set up a charity in my mothers name to advise and support paitents that and suffered with simular incedents of diabetic negligence from hospital and care homes. This fight began when my mother was subject to negligent hospital treatment at our local hospital. She began to fight for her life after being admitted to hospital in October 2011 with a ulcer on the heal of her foot. After endless admissions into hospital she was subject to near fatal death after the hospital staff had forgotten on several occasions to administer her insulin doses. This resulted in several diabetic comas and several episodes of heart failure.  Our mother and I made an initial complaint to the hospital in December 2011 after a series of unfortunate events lead to a very serious coma and a broken wrist due to a fall that could have been prevented if adiquate care had have been given. My Mother requested i help her with the complaint as she did not want to see other diabetic patients suffering from the same issues that had arisen with herself. After the last inccendent that took place i called a meeting with the Doctors and Nurses that were caring for my mother and insisted that she would be better cared for at home with family. Before my mother passed away she put in a claim to the hospital coving all the areas she felt fell below standards at the hospital. During this process my mother passed away with a heart attack. I decided to continue this claim on her behalf as she would have wanted. I have recently been told that although my mother had started the process of these claims regarding her negligent care that the claim would only be regarding the fall my mother had in the hospital where she had broken her wrist and been left for three days with no treatment and that the claim would not look into the missed insulin doses, the comas or the heart failure. My Mother Story   My mother was Mrs Carol Ann Saleh and she was born on the 11th April 1956 My mother was diagnosed with diabetes when she was 12 years of age and has historically always been able to self-administer her insulin without issue. In October 2011 my mother started to suffer with ulcers on her feet. She also contracted a water infection and combined, these caused her diabetes to become unstable as her blood sugar would vary from very high to very low. As a result of this instability she was therefore admitted to our local hospital When she was admitted to hospital, she was placed on a ward on a ‘sliding scale’ whereby her insulin was monitored and administrated automatically by a machine. I was told that this was standard procedure when a patient presents with an infection and initially my mother did not have any problems with her insulin being administered as a result of this machine. She was subsequently treated for the water infection and was seen by skin and circulatory specialists in relation to the ulcers on her feet. We were told that the circulation in my mother’s leg was very poor and this is why ulcers were developing on her feet and legs. It was decided that to try and prevent an amputation being necessary, my mother required an operation to insert a stent in her leg in order to improve her circulation and this was scheduled to take place in January 2012. In the meantime, my mother continued to be treated on the ward for the ulcers and was placed under the care of the nurses on the ward with respect to her insulin administration. Between October and the beginning of December 2013 the hospital contacted myself on three separate occasions to advise that my mother had slipped into a diabetic coma that was so serious we should come to the hospital as she may not pull through. On each occasion I rushed to the hospital to find my mother in serious diabetic coma. On numerous occasions during December I found my mother in and out of consciousness and so heavily medicated that she could not even sustain a normal conversation in the periods that she was actually conscious. On the fourth occasion that I was called, I demanded to speak to one of the doctors about why my mother kept slipping into these diabetic comas as she had never had any such problems before. I spoke to my mothers diabeties Dr who apologised profusely and stated that the nurses had been ‘forgetting’ to give my mother her insulin. He advised  that the nurses in question had been spoken to but this was of little comfort to me. Around this time I also noticed that several Ulcers and sores were beginning to develop on her legs and bottom. I was obviously extremely concerned for my mother’s welfare and began to monitor her care and drug charts myself to ensure that her insulin was being given. On numerous occasions I tested her blood sugar levels myself and found that they were over 20 mmol/L. When I had a look at her chart I  would see that hours earlier her blood sugar had been found to be  approximately 18 mmol/L and yet nothing had been done. In early December, it was decided that my mother should be moved to a different ward, which was a ward specialising in diabetic care. At first this reassured me slightly however within a week of my mother being on this ward I was again called to say that she had gone into a very serious diabetic coma. I asked whether my mother had been given her insulin and the nurses advised that she had been given it but they had just ‘forgotten to write it down on her chart’. I still do not believe this to be the case, especially as the exact same thing happened a week earlier and my mother went into another serious diabetic coma. At this point, I had already had concerns regarding the standard of my mother’s care. On one occasion I visited her to find that the bandages on her legs were soiled with urine, blood and general dirt. I requested that these be changed immediately however when I returned the following day this had still not been done. I demanded that they be changed whilst I was present and the staff member who came to change them was very rude to me and said that he had simply ‘forgotten’. A few days later, I went in for visiting hours to find that her hand was blue. I spoke to the nurse on the ward who advised that this was where the cannula had been however I disagreed and asked for a second opinion. Another doctor came and examined my mother and agreed that her wrist appeared damaged and that they would do an x-ray that day to find out what the problem was. Unfortunately the next day when I attended my mother had still not  had her wrist x-rayed and she was complaining about the pain in it. I complained to the nurses and was told that the x-ray had been forgotten about, but that she would be taken down that afternoon.  When I attended the next day and she had still not been given an x-ray I was absolutely furious. I demanded to speak to the Matron, and she apologised and said that this was an ‘oversight’. She was immediately taken down for an x-ray and when I returned the next day her wrist was in plaster. The doctor that came to speak to me advised that she ‘had broken it during the fall’. He went on to explain that my mother had had two falls during her stay in hospital. One was recorded on the first ward on the 2nd December 2011 however the fall on the second ward is that had broken her wrist had not been recorded and therefore they could not tell me exactly when this had occurred. I was not aware that she had fallen on ether occasion as I had not been told. I asked whether my mother had been risk assessed for falls following the fall on first ward and I was told that this had not taken place in all the time (14 weeks) she had been a patient on the first ward. I immediately made a verbal complaint to the ward manager, who advised that she was very upset about the events, especially that the insulin had been forgotten as she had written in red pen all over my mother’s chart that it was imperative that it was given correctly. The Sister arranged for me to have a meeting with the Matron on the 28th December 2012 where I insisted that she be discharged to my care as I was so concerned about the standard of care that she was receiving in hospital. In January 2012 my mother was discharged to my home address to be cared for properly by myself and my brother. We controlled her blood sugar and she did not slip into any more diabetic comas. She did very well at home until the 8th March 2012 when the cast on her arm was removed. As soon as the plaster was removed I could see that her arm looked deformed. I asked for this to be checked and she was sent for another x-ray. I was subsequently advised that her wrist had not been set correctly however as it was now healed there was nothing further they could do and she would have to ‘live with it’. I was extremely concerned at this as due to the problems with my mother’s legs she used her arms a lot to help with her mobility and now she had lost the full use of one of her arms. Around the same time she was readmitted to hospital with breathing problems which later transpired to be a problem with her heart and she was in and out of hospital. It soon became apparent the stent operation on her leg had been only partially successful the circularity was still very poor. My mother was told she should consider amputation. Amputation went ahead in July 2012. Her mobility became very restricted after amputation especially without the use of her wrist to help her move around. At this point my mother was advised to wear a splint on her wrist to help her protect it. Due to restricted use of her wrist she could not use a manual  wheelchair and therefore she had to wait several months for a special electronic wheelchair to be built for her needs. My mother was in and out of hospital for the next 24 months and I continued to have grave concerns regarding her level of care. For example, on one occasion I walked in to find a group of nurses trying to force her to stand up and put pressure on her leg. I asked if they had even bothered to read her notes which state that she was not to put pressure on her legs and they admitted that they hadn’t. On another occasion in early February 2014, the nurses ripped off all of the bandages on her legs and left the ulcers exposed and bleeding so that when I arrived for evening visiting hours she was sat in bedsheets that were soaked in blood. I asked a nurse how long she had been left and she had been left for several hours said she hadn’t got round dressing my mother leg and had planned on doing it at lunch time. I insisted they were dressed immediately to prevent further infection. I demanded to speak with the Head Nurse. I Spoke with EAU ward manager on 7th February 2014 who apologised for  the delay in action and assured me actions were put into place to see this did not happen again. She also contracted MRSA some 48 hours after one of her admissions  in September 2012. Just days previous to this admission she had been  tested by district nurse that had been returned negative. The nurse caring for my mother at this time on EAU said she could have caught it from anywhere. I do not believe this to be the case. Notwithstanding this, my main complaint was the level of care she received in 2011 and 2012 whilst on the both wards. Sadly my mother ultimately passed away on the 20th February 2014 from a heart attack. The whole experience was traumatic for not only my mother but the  whole of the family.  When my mother was In hospital I could not sleep due to the worry that she was not being looked after properly. Due to this, combined with the amount of time I needed off work to attend the hospital, I was forced to leave two jobs. My mother was aware that the care that she was receiving was substandard and was very upset about this. She constantly asked me to take her home and was afraid to go back into hospital when she needed to however there was nothing that I could do except try and reassure her as best I could. I also bought her a mobile phone and taught her how to call me in case she needed to but a lot of the time she was either in diabetic coma’s  or medicated so heavily that she was unable to use this. Due to this I felt that it would be in her best interests to bring  her home and care for her myself, with the assistance of my brother. This  was a financially worry. I found a job closer to my home taking a large reduction is my salary whilst caring for her full-time due to the level of care she was receiving, I felt that it was necessary. Prior to her frequent visits to hospital, my mother was an active and social person who enjoyed going on holidays abroad. She was usually very confident and a content individual but since her care in 2011 & 2012 she became very withdrawn and distressed. Although her mobility was reduced, she was still able to mobilise quite well at home using her arms. However following the break to her arm she was unable to do this and consequently her mobility and quality of life suffered as a result.  She was very upset about the care she was receiving in the hospital and advised that she wished to make a claim against the hospital, both for herself and for all of the other patients who were suffering and could  potentially die due to the mistakes that the nurses were making. Therefor i will continue to fight for her story to be heard. With your help this could prevent someone with diabeties going through simular events.      

Organizer

  • Justicefordiabeticpatients

Donors

  • Lauren Hill
  • Donated on Mar 25, 2015
  • It's horrible to hear this happen to a family you know in the area! Sorry for your loss!!

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  • Charlotte
  • Donated on Mar 24, 2015
£5.00
  • Tracey Lowe
  • Donated on Mar 24, 2015
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Donors & Comments

12 donors
  • Lauren Hill
  • Donated on Mar 25, 2015
  • It's horrible to hear this happen to a family you know in the area! Sorry for your loss!!

Amount Hidden
  • Charlotte
  • Donated on Mar 24, 2015
£5.00
  • Tracey Lowe
  • Donated on Mar 24, 2015
Amount Hidden
  • Danielle
  • Donated on Mar 24, 2015
  • Xx

£2.00
  • Hayley cook
  • Donated on Mar 24, 2015
£10.00
  • Guest
  • Donated on Mar 24, 2015
£10.00
  • Emma Harris
  • Donated on Mar 24, 2015
£2.00
  • Tracey
  • Donated on Mar 24, 2015
£5.00
  • martyn stevenson
  • Donated on Mar 24, 2015
  • its not much emma but glad to help x

£5.00
  • Lottie
  • Donated on Mar 24, 2015
  • You have my support xxx

£10.00
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