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Apr 17, 2010
Poor care for bedridden dad at hospital
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MY FATHER, 81, is bedridden and requires a full-time maid to care for him. On March 20, he developed a skin infection around the area of his percutaneous endoscopic gastronomy (PEG) tube from which blood was also oozing.
He was feverish and shivered uncontrollably. We admitted him to Singapore General Hospital (SGH) but were dismayed by the following incidents:
On April 3, a junior male doctor told me my father was in a very weak state. If a serious episode recurred, he would not be admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU), as they felt his condition would be beyond treatment. After we spoke, he left and returned with a woman doctor who said my father would not be admitted to the ICU because of his age and state of health. They would treat only his infections.
On April 5, my maid discovered a large stain over my father's clothing and cushion. The tube from the milk feed had leaked and apparently went unnoticed and unattended for a long time as a trail of ants had formed and was crawling all over the bed. My maid alerted a doctor and one of the sisters. The ward nurses then cleaned and changed my father's clothing.
As the infection needed to heal, the PEG tube had to be removed. The patch that covered the wound was dated April 1 when I saw it on April 3. My maid told me the senior doctor had instructed that the patch be changed daily, and that the head doctor had reprimanded the nurses on duty for not doing so.
My maid told me that the nurses were also reprimanded for not turning my father, who is prone to bed sores, as often.
The hospital care was disappointing.
While I accept the rationale for not giving my father ICU treatment, the decision should have been conveyed to us privately, rather than in front of the patient.
I am also dismayed by the way the nurses looked after my father in his room.
Colin Yeo
Poor care for bedridden dad at hospital
<!-- by line --><!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
MY FATHER, 81, is bedridden and requires a full-time maid to care for him. On March 20, he developed a skin infection around the area of his percutaneous endoscopic gastronomy (PEG) tube from which blood was also oozing.
He was feverish and shivered uncontrollably. We admitted him to Singapore General Hospital (SGH) but were dismayed by the following incidents:
On April 3, a junior male doctor told me my father was in a very weak state. If a serious episode recurred, he would not be admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU), as they felt his condition would be beyond treatment. After we spoke, he left and returned with a woman doctor who said my father would not be admitted to the ICU because of his age and state of health. They would treat only his infections.
On April 5, my maid discovered a large stain over my father's clothing and cushion. The tube from the milk feed had leaked and apparently went unnoticed and unattended for a long time as a trail of ants had formed and was crawling all over the bed. My maid alerted a doctor and one of the sisters. The ward nurses then cleaned and changed my father's clothing.
As the infection needed to heal, the PEG tube had to be removed. The patch that covered the wound was dated April 1 when I saw it on April 3. My maid told me the senior doctor had instructed that the patch be changed daily, and that the head doctor had reprimanded the nurses on duty for not doing so.
My maid told me that the nurses were also reprimanded for not turning my father, who is prone to bed sores, as often.
The hospital care was disappointing.
While I accept the rationale for not giving my father ICU treatment, the decision should have been conveyed to us privately, rather than in front of the patient.
I am also dismayed by the way the nurses looked after my father in his room.
Colin Yeo
