Revealed: Brutal reality of life in the NHS

THESE are the stories that graphically illustrate the grim reality of the Third World conditions affecting the NHS.

For years calls have been made for drastic improvements in the ailing health service but as the stories show, little, if anything, seems to be changing.

A pair of sisters described their mum’s care at Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow, as from the Dark Ages.

Overworked staff at Scotland’s biggest hospital are struggling to cope with the sheer number of patients having to wait hours on ambulance trolleys.

The GMB union has claimed patients are waiting hours in its corridors for treatment.

The situation south of the Border appears to be just as bleak.

A Gateshead mum described her heartbreak after her son died the day before he was due to have surgery, claiming he could have been saved if surgeons had operated sooner.

Last night critics called for major improvements to protect patients.’We just want to make sure no family goes through what we did’ Susanne Johnstone and Bernadette Simpson (Andrew Cawley / DC Thomson)

THE daughters of a retired nursing assistant who died after a fall have condemned the “care from the Dark Ages” she endured at the hands of the NHS.

Susanna Johnstone and Bernadette Simpson’s mum Bridget, 89, was sent to a hospital rehab unit to recover from the minor injuries she sustained in the bathroom slip accident.

But the grandmother-of-seven’s stay expected to last just a few days stretched out to 10 weeks, with her health deteriorating rapidly.

She was eventually released to her family’s care but never recovered and died weeks later.

Her furious daughters claim Bridget known affectionately as Biddy was “neglected” by nursing staff at the unit in Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow.

They also allege that she was given food that was inedible and drinks that were so hot she scalded herself.

Among their mum’s last words to them were “I didn’t think I’d ever get out of that awful place”.

Following Bridget’s death the family demanded independent health watchdogs investigate her care.

They said they took the step after being “fobbed off” by senior NHS officials.

Now, nearly two years on, Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Jim Martin has upheld two of three complaints the family made.

Bridget’s case has also been held up as a damning example of falling standards in the NHS, with patients’ groups demanding lessons be learned.

Susanna, 60, who, like her mum, also works as a nursing assistant, said: “We just want to make sure no family goes through what we did.

“We feel the care my mum got was appalling.”

Susanna and Bernadette, 57, say Bridget was only suffering minor ailments related to old age when she fell over at the Glasgow home she had lived in alone since her husband Peter died in 1999.

But that all changed following her bathroom stumble in July 2013.

After being treated at Glasgow’s Royal Infirmary, her family were given the choice of sending her to a nursing home or the rehabilitation centre at Stobhill to fully recover.

The family say they opted for the NHS unit because it was close to Biddy’s home in Balornock and that she worked there as an auxiliary nurse when she was younger.

Susanna said: “It was a new building to her but we hoped her recovery would be faster as it was an environment she was familiar with.

“But now I think while the building is lovely and modern, the level of care is from the Dark Ages.”

The family say Bridget was left to face an undignified death, with medics failing to address her constant discomfort, bruises and scratches.

They say staff were slow to respond to requests for assistance while she was on the ward and their mum was left exposed with her night-gown open for passers-by to see.

After staving off a chest and urinary tract infection, Bridget was released in October.

Authorities gave the family a hospital bed to put in her living room.

But she never left it and died three weeks later.

Blaming the “lack of care” she endured while in hospital for her demise, Bridget’s distraught family lodged a complaint with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

But they were not satisfied with the way it was handled so asked the watchdog to investigate.

It ruled that Bridget was frequently ignored by “inadequate levels” of nursing staff on the ward in Stobhill.

It also found her dietary requirements were ignored.

The health board admitted both faults noting Bridget did “not eat well whilst in the ward”.

The NHS have since apologised to the family for the way in which Bridget was treated.

Margaret Watt, of Scotland’s Patients Association, said: “In Bridget’s case the level of care she experienced was frankly deplorable.

“We are frequently contacted about patient problems like this.

“What is more galling is nothing seems to be getting better.”

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said Bridget’s case was caused by NHS staff shortages.

He said: “As long as the Scottish Government presides over an NHS which is understaffed and over run, shocking examples like this will never be far away.”

The SPSO also found the NHS had “failed to respond to Mrs Johnstone’s complaints in a reasonable and timely manner”.

A complaint about the appropriate clinical supervision of Bridget was not upheld.

A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “We met with this family in 2013 and addressed their complaint in full including apologising for the failings with their mother’s care.

“Since then we have taken a number of actions to address these shortcomings.”’I feel cheated my son died waiting for an operation’ Kevin Little died a day before crucial operation

A MAN who lived with a brain illness for more than a decade died the day before he was due to undergo crucial treatment.

Kevin Little, 35, had lived with a “ticking timebomb” brain condition since 2002.

He was due to travel to hospital in Sheffield to be treated by experts last month.

But he died the day before, when a blood vessel in his brain burst.

Last night his heartbroken mum Eunice Wiggins, 61, of Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, said: “We feel let down it took so long to get him the operation he was desperately in need of.

“I’ve lost my son and I feel cheated it was just too late.”

Kevin had a rare condition, arteriovenous malformation, which meant he had a tangle of arteries in his brain roughly the size of an adult’s hand,

He had been due to travel to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield on September 20, to have the knot blasted with gamma ray treatment.

But the night before, Eunice received a text from Kevin reading: “Mam, I feel dodgy”.

His brother, Christopher, 27, discovered Kevin’s body on the floor where he had been feeding fish in a tank in his bedroom.

Eunice revealed that Kevin’s organs had been donated to give others the gift of life.

“It gives me comfort his heart is beating in someone else,” she said.

Dr David Throssell, medical director of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said “Regrettably it would not have provided an instant cure for Mr Little’s condition as the treatment works over a period of two to four years.

“We are very sad to hear of Mr Little’s death and our thoughts are with his family.”Flagship hospital hit by patient delays Ambulances outside the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (Andrew Cawley / DC Thomson)

PATIENTS are being forced to wait for hours on ambulance trolleys before being admitted to the accident and emergency unit in Scotland’s biggest hospital.

Union chiefs have claimed ambulances are regularly stacking up outside the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow as they wait to hand over patients.

Crews have complained of having to wait with patients for hours in the £842 million hospital’s corridors before they are officially discharged into the care of hospital medics.

Health chiefs last night insisted the average handover time was 30 minutes but Mick Conroy, senior organiser of the GMB Union in Scotland, called for action to fix the problem before the onset of winter.

He said: “It is ridiculous. Once the crews arrive at the new hospital they are literally standing in the corridor doing nothing other than trying to keep their patients’ spirits up until they can hand them over. I have spoken to crews who have stood there for two-and-a-half hours with a patient, who has fairly minor injuries, but they can’t leave them.

“There has to be a better way of doing this.”

Paramedics cannot leave their patients until they have been officially handed over, preventing them from attending 999 calls. Delays place a strain on the service.

Last night a spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “In recent months there has been a reduction in waiting times for ambulances with the average handover time now half an hour.”

They said: “An escalation plan, developed in conjunction with the Scottish Ambulance Service, is in place to ensure that at times of high activity the handover of patients is made within a clinically safe time.”

The Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We work continuously with emergency departments to release valuable ambulances as quickly as possible.”In my view: Roger Goss, Co-founder of Patient ConcernTHESE stories illustrate the major problems which lie at the very heart of the NHS.

Its founders thought that if they provided universal free at the point of delivery care, everyone would get better quickly.

The cost of running the service, therefore, would decline.

But what has really happened is the complete opposite.

Scientists and doctors have found more and more ways of improving people’s health, sometimes even curing diseases.

Many more people are living longer, so there are many more to treat at far higher costs.

The result is an overstretched health service struggling to cope.

This will inevitably lead to poorer care as has been highlighted by Susanna Johnstone and Bernadette Simpson’s heartbreaking story of their mother’s death.

It is clear more money is needed to provide the kind of health service we all want.

We have seen the Scottish Government paying millions to bail out health boards.

Health trusts in England have racked up a deficit approaching £1 billion in the first three months of the financial year.

It is the worst financial position in a generation and is unsustainable.

Of course we need to provide enough money to train doctors and nurses and employ them enough to keep them once they are trained.

But the NHS needs to focus on getting more value for money.

They don’t at the minute, because it’s our money they are spending, so they are less worried about the awfully large amount which is wasted.

Suppliers know this and try to extract as much money as they can.

Billions are wasted on IT debacles money which could be much better spent on providing excellent patient care.