Drastic changes made on ward at Basildon Hospital after man encounters catalogue of errors

8:00am Wednesday 6th February 2013 in News

Hopeful for change: Dave Bushell Hopeful for change: Dave Bushell

A BUILDER claims he encountered a catalogue of problems at Basildon Hospital when he went in for a routine operation.

Dave Bushell, 64, of Villiers Way, Thundersley, is making a formal complaint about the standard of care he received at the hospital.

He has now been told "drastic changes" are being made at the hospital to ensure it never happens again.

Mr Bushell was admitted for a bowel operation and was told he would be in for up to seven days maximum but ended up there for 16.

His operation was a success and he says he could not fault the surgeons or the endoscopy unit but on the ward he claims no one has time for the patients.

He and his partner, Pam Cadwill, 71, said there were 28 patients on Kingswood Ward at the time and six nurses to care for them.

Mr Bushell alleges:

*It would take nurses up to 40 minutes to respond when a buzzer was pressed.

*He was unable to pass urine because his catheter was blocked and he suffered a urine infection as a result. 

*His stomach ballooned in size because of fluid building up inside him .

*His hospital notes were lost.

He said: “After my operation everything started to go wrong, it was one thing after another.

“I was lying in bed in agony and kept asking everyone to sort out the bottle. I was trying to go to the toilet but couldn’t push enough to get it through this kink in the pipe.”

Mr Bushell said the bottle was eventually swapped for what a nurse allegedly described as a “one of the modern ones” where the pipe can only go straight down through a section of corrugated plastic.

He said he started to empty the bottle himself because a nurse was rarely there to do it when he called and his urine was also meant to be measured and tested, which no one was allegedly doing.

A Basildon Hospital spokeswoman said: “We are sorry to hear that Mr Bushell has concerns about the care and treatment he received.

“We telephoned Mr Bushell’s partner after she wrote to tell us she had concerns, and offered to set up a meeting to discuss these in detail.”

Mr Bushell and Mrs Cadwill met with Debbie Crisp, clinical governance coordinator, on Monday, February 4 and were told “drastic changes” have already been made on the ward, including a nurse who walks round hourly to check if patients need anything and that his points, as well as those raised by other patients, will be put together to form a dossier of information to make sure the same things don’t happen again.

Comments (7)

10:11am Wed 6 Feb 13

jvoodoo says...

This is sad, and something that has been going on for far too long, the problems start at the 'Top' with the government stating what they want, and how hospitals should be working/performing etc,but the increase in housing,cuts,bad management (the list goes on) instead of the hospital management saying 'Stop a minute and come and see what pressures we are under for yourselves' they simply say 'ok' and then turn on their staff and tell them how things need to be, the increase in paperwork and the stupid ideas that follow that prevent nurses from actually doing Nursing work, there was a recent poll done in a national papar that said there was a huge increase in complaints from patients/relatives towards nurses and the care, the governments response was 'we are going to sort the staff out, in other words, heads will roll, instaed of saying 'ok, obviously there is a problem, we need to address this, and firstly, lets talk to the staff, lets understand what pressures they are under' (pressures that they cause in the first place, along with the total lack of support from staff that should be there helping each other, rather than management who have no idea about hands on care, just what figures and costs should work out correctly?)
I could go on, but nothing will change, I know that I could do something to help all of this out, as could so many other people from all walks of life, any walk of life except government and those that have no care for their own staff. Happy staff equals care, saftey, productive outcomes etc... Seems to me that we are a long way from how things could/should be (Don't get me started on matrons, waste of time/money, this is stuff for another day!!!)
This is sad, and something that has been going on for far too long, the problems start at the 'Top' with the government stating what they want, and how hospitals should be working/performing etc,but the increase in housing,cuts,bad management (the list goes on) instead of the hospital management saying 'Stop a minute and come and see what pressures we are under for yourselves' they simply say 'ok' and then turn on their staff and tell them how things need to be, the increase in paperwork and the stupid ideas that follow that prevent nurses from actually doing Nursing work, there was a recent poll done in a national papar that said there was a huge increase in complaints from patients/relatives towards nurses and the care, the governments response was 'we are going to sort the staff out, in other words, heads will roll, instaed of saying 'ok, obviously there is a problem, we need to address this, and firstly, lets talk to the staff, lets understand what pressures they are under' (pressures that they cause in the first place, along with the total lack of support from staff that should be there helping each other, rather than management who have no idea about hands on care, just what figures and costs should work out correctly?) I could go on, but nothing will change, I know that I could do something to help all of this out, as could so many other people from all walks of life, any walk of life except government and those that have no care for their own staff. Happy staff equals care, saftey, productive outcomes etc... Seems to me that we are a long way from how things could/should be (Don't get me started on matrons, waste of time/money, this is stuff for another day!!!) jvoodoo

10:18am Wed 6 Feb 13

carols14 says...

After the CQC report regrading the childrens wards, it appears Basildon still do not learn,, recent tactic appears to be to blame parents or patients
After the CQC report regrading the childrens wards, it appears Basildon still do not learn,, recent tactic appears to be to blame parents or patients carols14

2:16pm Wed 6 Feb 13

Carnabackable says...

"Ever considered going Private" own room, own nurse, menu, wifi.
In your hour of need free up the valuable beds for the needy, private doesn'yt have to mean your greedy...
"Ever considered going Private" own room, own nurse, menu, wifi. In your hour of need free up the valuable beds for the needy, private doesn'yt have to mean your greedy... Carnabackable

7:46pm Wed 6 Feb 13

jolllyboy says...

They are sorry - so that makes it all right and so it can happen again.
No-one is listening. CGC has no teeth and looks to be useless. How many times are we hearing of this. i have heard of ward 9not basildon) running out of pain killers and saying a patient could have non as the pharmacy was closed. etc. etc. This is the 21st century not victorian times. the NHS is going backwards and it is time we all stood up for decent care.
They are sorry - so that makes it all right and so it can happen again. No-one is listening. CGC has no teeth and looks to be useless. How many times are we hearing of this. i have heard of ward 9not basildon) running out of pain killers and saying a patient could have non as the pharmacy was closed. etc. etc. This is the 21st century not victorian times. the NHS is going backwards and it is time we all stood up for decent care. jolllyboy

8:11pm Wed 6 Feb 13

soul man says...

targets, not patient care are all the nhs is about now, i bet kate middleton never had that problem when she was in hospital with MORNING SICKNESS
targets, not patient care are all the nhs is about now, i bet kate middleton never had that problem when she was in hospital with MORNING SICKNESS soul man

5:34am Thu 7 Feb 13

what-are-they-thinking? says...

This story is all too familiar.. In November 2009 Iexperienced very similar problems on the same ward. I also had a meeting with hospital staff, and was also told that drastic changes would be made, including nurses scanning each bay every half hour to see if patients needed anything. It seems that the promises I was given were not kept!
Like Mr Bushell, I have no complaints about the doctors who treated me, but see the sole blame being laid squarely at the feet of the hospital management, and in particular the jinability to manage the number of nursing staff required on a busy surgical ward. Like Mr Bushell, I experienced long waits before call bells were answered, leaving vulnerable patients, often elderly patients, isolated and alone.
I believed the nursing director to whom I spoke when she listened to my concerns. I feel let down and betrayed that the same issues are happening again. Nothing has changed.
This story is all too familiar.. In November 2009 Iexperienced very similar problems on the same ward. I also had a meeting with hospital staff, and was also told that drastic changes would be made, including nurses scanning each bay every half hour to see if patients needed anything. It seems that the promises I was given were not kept! Like Mr Bushell, I have no complaints about the doctors who treated me, but see the sole blame being laid squarely at the feet of the hospital management, and in particular the jinability to manage the number of nursing staff required on a busy surgical ward. Like Mr Bushell, I experienced long waits before call bells were answered, leaving vulnerable patients, often elderly patients, isolated and alone. I believed the nursing director to whom I spoke when she listened to my concerns. I feel let down and betrayed that the same issues are happening again. Nothing has changed. what-are-they-thinking?

1:37am Sat 9 Feb 13

5-2-52yrs says...

I too was on This ward after a major operation and suffered treatment that was, without question, gross professional misconduct. I too complained and was told action would be taken..ect ect. This was 2010. How they have got away with this for so long is shameful.
I would add, like others, that the surgeons were highly professional:
as an inpatient on a ward it was shocking.
I too was on This ward after a major operation and suffered treatment that was, without question, gross professional misconduct. I too complained and was told action would be taken..ect ect. This was 2010. How they have got away with this for so long is shameful. I would add, like others, that the surgeons were highly professional: as an inpatient on a ward it was shocking. 5-2-52yrs

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