Daughter sends in undercover nurses to counter ‘terrible treatment’ at Bradford hospital

A FAMILY spent more than £1,000 on private carers to support to a great-grandmother they claim was failing to get the care she needed as she lay seriously ill in a leading Yorkshire hospital.

Annette Townend said she believed her mother Sheila Smith would not have survived without the intervention from dedicated care staff to provide help with eating and drinking while she was being treated in Bradford Royal Infirmary.

She claimed too few staff were employed on the ward at the hospital and they were unable to spend the time needed with her mother, who was admitted after collapsing at home in Baildon a few days after her 82nd birthday.

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She even provided home-prepared food including salmon, tuna, trifles and jellies for her mother, who was on a drip, to give her fluids but was unable to eat hospital food and was having difficulties swallowing.

Mrs Townend, 55, who is a lifelong Tory supporter, said: “David Cameron needs to know the NHS is falling apart at the seams.

“Care for older people is a complete shambles. It’s not just let us down but all older people are being let down. He needs to know the truth.

“Unless there is a relative or friend to come in and help look after them, they have no chance.”

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Mrs Townend herself was diagnosed with cancer in June and was unable to help her mother due to the risk of infection as she underwent a course of chemotherapy.

But she was told by doctors that her mother was seriously ill and without proper nourishment her life was at risk due to organ failure.

“They were putting the food and drink at the end of the bed but she was so weak and poorly she couldn’t pick it up and they didn’t have time to feed her,” she said.

“It’s not the nursing staff - it’s the hospital trying to make the books balance.

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“At least half the patients on the ward had dementia but there just weren’t enough staff.”

She paid £13 an hour for the carers to help her mother eat and drink and they spent six hours a day in the morning, lunchtime and evening with her over two weeks at the hospital, enabling her to get the vital nourishment she needed.

Mrs Townend said her mother was now in a nursing home following the stay in hospital in August.

But she said there had been a catalogue of problems with her mother’s care ranging from delayed ambulances to poorly-organised discharge packages to allow her to leave hospital, which she said had been “absolutely appalling”.

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“I feel so outraged. I can’t care for my mother because I’ve been diagnosed with cancer but she’s been left like a ship at sea with no oars,” she said.

She added that her MP, Philip Davies (Tory, Shipley) had sent a letter a month ago about her mother’s treatment but so far had not had a response.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it was carrying out an investigation into her case after concerns were raised by Mr Davies.

“We are sorry to learn of Mrs Townend’s concerns about her mother’s care,” said a spokesman.

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“The findings of the report and any subsequent action plan will, of course, be shared with Mrs Smith and her family.

“Bradford teaching hospitals has an excellent record in patient safety and quality of care.

“We have consistently been ranked as one of the safest hospitals in the country by the independent Dr Foster report and an unannounced inspection at the foundation trust earlier this year by the Care Quality Commission found us to be meeting the key requirements of elderly patients in hospital, reinforcing the high priority we place on ensuring elderly patients are treated with dignity and respect.

“We set high standards for ourselves and aim to get every patient’s treatment and care right, and in most cases we do.

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“We are committed to providing high quality healthcare for every patient.”

• CONCERNS about the quality of NHS hospital care have been heightened following the scandal at the Mid Staffordshire hospital were hundreds of patients are believed to have died.

A report by the Care Quality Commission this month found that one in five hospitals was breaking the law over the care of the elderly.

Of 100 hospitals facing unannounced inspections in England between March and June, half were failing to meet dignity or nutrition standards.

Hospitals which failed on essential nutrition standards were frequently found not to be providing enough assistance with eating.

The Bradford trust was among half where no breaches were uncovered.

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