AFTER reading the letter about Mrs Smallman’s father in the Royal Bolton Hospital, I would like to tell you what happened to my mother 13 months ago.
My mother was 89 and used to use a stick and although she wasn’t able to go out on her own, she had a busy life.
I used to take her to Mecca Bingo every week. She would go out to lunch two or three times a week with us or my brother. She also played dominoes and bingo in the flats where she lived.
In November, 2009, she broke her wrist and was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital. Due to her medication, she couldn’t have the operation on it for six days.
On that day, somebody had caught a bug so she had to wait another nine days. After the operation, she went on another ward where they asked me if she had come in with a bed sore.
“No,” I replied. She then got a chest infection and Clostridium Difficile infection.
On one trip to the toilet in a commode chair she had an accident and had stitches in the back of her leg.
In January, 2010, they said her leg and bed sore were doing all right. They said she was going to rehabilitation to get her ready to get back to her flat.
The next thing she had a chest infection and the bug was back so she couldn’t go. She also had both legs bandaged from her knees to her toes.
They said she had tried to get out of bed. I don’t think they were walking her like they should.
Although they said she was having physio, there was no space for her to walk in the room she was in.
On January 22, 2010, they sent her to rehabilitation at Darley Court. When I got there, they said they were getting the doctor to her as she wasn’t well. The doctor took blood tests and asked me what had happened to her.
On Monday night, she was again admitted to the Royal Bolton where I was asked by a lady doctor how long my mother had been like this and I said she had been in there for seven weeks.
She was too ill for an X-ray on her stomach and she said that she would give her the best medication that she could.
On Wednesday, I was told that they couldn’t do anything for her.
Her wrist had healed beautifully but she died with renal failure, sepsis, lower respiratory tract infection, Clostridium Difficile infection and a grade four bed sore. All this after having a broken wrist.
C Heron Bolton
