Concord Hospital in Sydney has admitted that they did neglect an elderly, ill man, and the New South Wales government is once again feeling the heat over healthcare standards.
Cut with WARNING, for horrific negligence-inflicted injury to a person with a disability.
I might just put in warning space too.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I can hardly type this. The ABC and the SMH report that an elderly man, admitted with heart disease and pneumonia, was left on a bedpan.
For what looks to be DAYS.
How many hours, how many days? Nobody knows. Which makes it blatantly obvious that this man wasn’t being observed, washed, turned, pressure-cared, given fresh sheets, or bothered with at all.
He developed severe infections and fist-sized necrotic pressure sores on his buttocks and spine, which have required two operations so far.
So can the people who live in sparklypoo la-la land now see that we don’t look after people with disabilities in Australia? That they don’t always get offered every opportunity to live safe, healthy, interesting, enriched, engaged lives in the community? That they are, in fact, warehoused, neglected, and abused to within an inch of their lives (or further)? The TAB population only ever hears about the extremes – the man left on a bedpan to rot, the man having his ears chewed by rodents. How many other less lurid cases are there out there that don’t make the papers?
Categories: medicine, social justice, violence
Hoyden About Town 
That’s so horrifying I can hardly type. The pain this poor man must have been in.
Disgusting and horrifying.
So horrifyingly sad. That makes me hurt to read.
The TAB population only ever hears about the extremes – the man left on a bedpan to rot, the man having his ears chewed by rodents. How many other less lurid cases are there out there that don’t make the papers?
This is what really gets to me. I think that most TABs who read this will be horrified, but underneath that there will be a sense that this is an isolated incident — after all, it is presumably quite rare for a patient to be left on a bedpan. Most probably won’t think about how there must be so many more incidents of people left to lie in urine and excrement or who aren’t turned when they need to be or forced to endure a thousand other indignities because they can’t communicate.
I’ve been trying to think of a response to this since I saw it posted in your DW, but… I just can’t get over how horrific this is! How could they do that to someone! It’s horriible!
I am appalled and disgusted, but not in the least bit surprised. I was in hospital for two weeks last year for a knee op, which in combo with my CP left me unable to get around by myself. I still have flashbacks and distress relating to treatment I recieved in the hospital, so it’s taken a bit of effort to make this comment.
Short version and two examples: I was lectured on my attitude by one of the nurses when I was being transferred to the commode the night after my op. Because of my CP + height+immobilised leg, it took about 4 nurses to safely transfer me. As the result of an abusive neglectful childhood my independence is VITAL to my sanity, I have no experience of trusting that help will be provided safely or respectfully. It’s been over two decades since I’ve had to have any assistance for selfcare/toileting. I was groggy from the anestetic and frustrated and upset at needing help. So I was muttering and bitching and swearing to myself as they were transfering me (helps get the stress out of my body – stress + spasticity = BAD), and this nurse snaps at me “Oh, don’t be so NEGATIVE!!
This same nurse left me on the toilet a week later for over half an hour in the middle of a winter night. She got strips ripped off her by another (excellent) nurse, and never did that again.
Many nurses didn’t read my notes, mentioning my CP and would snap at me “why can’t you get out of bed by yourself”.
There is more, but it is difficult to write about, and none of this was new to me – 35 years old, and have so many stories about bad treatment and neglect by medics. Some are good, but too many aren’t, too many have the same prejudices that the wider community has about disability. Don’t even get me started on orthopedic surgeons and physios…
Recent story from the last twelve months- The father of an acquaintance was in hospital in the end stage of cancer – in his 80s, almost totally blind. Nurses kept coming in and putting his food out of reach. Sign placed above bed – “Vision Impaired” nurses often didn’t pay any notice to it, wasn’t put up again when he was transferred to another room.
This is just simply awful. And whats compounding the wrong is that in the story that I read about this, which described the complaint about this incident going to the relevant Minister, some PR person said something along the lines “ohh we don’t know how many days it was” completing dismissing the story and minimizing awareness of the trauma that poor man experienced. Within that particular news story there was no mention of the fact that the gentleman had to undergo surgery twice in an attempt to heal the harm that was caused by such horrible neglect.
As noted by Lauredhel, the scary thing is that is probably just the tip of the iceberg and the general public only hears about the egregious instances, there is probably an awful lot of ‘low level neglect as normal’ happening. Otherwise I can’t fathom how this would have happened.
It also upset me that the patient’s non-english speaking background, which meant he couldn’t communicate readily with staff was used as an excuse. He shouldn’t have needed to if his needs were being met adequately.
Horrendous is not the word.
And gahhh, the patronising-ness of the head of respiratory medicine, Matthew Peters (quoted extensively in the ABC article). In particular, this fabulous faux-pology:
”We regret any adverse outcome”??!?!?!!?! That’s the best you can come up with? Fucking hell!
“We’re trying to help the man’s future health…” Well, yes, you’re a fucking hospital, that’s what you’re bloody well meant to be doing! Would have been nice if you’d figured that out before the man was left on the bedpan for you-don’t-know-how-long.