Annex A > Chapter 9 - The Split Service > Comments by parents/patients
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Comments by parents/patients
59 Many parents commented on their experience of the split site and service.
60 Penelope Plackett, mother of Sophie who underwent surgery in 1988, stated in her written evidence to the Inquiry:
`When I returned to the BRI, I was told Sophie was being moved to Bristol Children's Hospital. I was very unhappy about this. At the cardiac catheterisation and biopsy at the Children's Hospital, the staff on the baby unit were uncaring. They seemed to spend their days drinking tea and chatting to one another, emerging every four hours to feed the babies. The transfer to the Children's Hospital went ahead. I only saw the nurses when they came with Sophie's drugs, and her care was left entirely to me. She was being bottle fed but I could not get her to suck or swallow. I asked for help with her feeding over and over again, but nobody came to my assistance. [60]
`Mr Dhasmana persuaded me, much against my will, that I needed a break and should go home to Exeter for the weekend. I did so, although I did not feel that I could trust the staff to give Sophie proper care and attention. When I returned to Bristol, she had an appalling case of nappy rash with noticeable burns on her skin. She had obviously been left in a soiled nappy for a long time. I hated every second of the time Sophie and I spent at the Children's Hospital. I hated the nurses and whole place. It was a nightmarish blur.' [61]
61 Janet Baker, mother of James who also underwent surgery at Bristol in 1988:
`... thought the BRI was brilliant. It was bright and jolly and there were nice toys around and the staff seemed very nice. The contrast with my experience of the Bristol Children's Hospital could not have been more extreme.' [62]
62 Another parent, in their written evidence to the Inquiry, described Ward 5 in 1991 as:
`... an adult ward, but the children who were there were together at one end, although that meant they were some way away from the nurses' station. It seemed a gloomier place than the Children's Hospital ...' [63]
63 Christine Ellis, mother of Richard, expressed concern that in 1991:
`There did not seem to be the same pastoral care in the BRI as there was in the Children's Hospital ...' [64]
64 John McLorinan, father of Joseph, told the Inquiry of his view of the general environment as between the BRHSC and the BRI in 1991:
`I suppose in the children's ward one feels very much supported and cushioned and cradled, and in the BRI, where they have the heart cases, one was more aware that people might die more often and things like that. It was not really geared for children and families. It was a bit frightening and worrying like that, and obviously the practical care of Joe was more difficult for the staff, but I think the staff made every effort to overcome that.' [65]
65 Alison Thomas, mother of Dafydd, in her written evidence to the Inquiry, stated that in 1992:
`I found the experience of having to travel with Dafydd from the Children's Hospital to the BRI on the morning of surgery highly traumatic. Dafydd and I were being transferred from everything we knew and felt secure within the Children's Hospital to an unknown destination in terms of experience. All I knew was that I had seen the IT Unit the day before and didn't like it. The nurses at the Children's Hospital had been friendly and caring ... we did not know the nursing team that would receive Dafydd. It gave rise to a great sense of insecurity. I could have done without that at that very stressful and important time in my life and that of Hugh my husband and of Dafydd. We were also saying goodbye to Helen Vegoda who had been a great support during the period leading up to the operation and also all the other parents who had been friendly with us.
`I remember being very pleased when Dafydd was able to be released from the IT Unit back to the Children's Hospital. On return to the Children's Hospital, although it seemed antiquated compared to the high-tech of the IT ward, nonetheless one was back in the caring child orientated environment. That is not to say that Dafydd did not receive care and attention in the IT unit or that the nursing team could have been any more caring than they were with myself, Hugh and Dafydd.' [66]
66 Alison Thomas told the Inquiry:
`Being up at the Children's Hospital, surely it would make more sense for children to be treated at the hospital that they were admitted to, rather than being shipped, having had a pre-med even, by ambulance on the morning of an operation down to another hospital. In fact, Dafydd took rota virus down there with him and it could have closed the whole unit down, I believe. Certainly, in my opinion, it was an awful lot less than perfect.' [67]
67 Another parent described his concern about the facilities at the BRI in 1993 in his written evidence to the Inquiry:
`As part of the pre-operation procedure we were shown round ward 5 at the BRI, including the part of the ward where the patients would be kept in intensive care following the operation. Our general impression was that it was somewhat less satisfactory than in comparison to the Children's Hospital where we had been very happy with the atmosphere and the facilities.' [68]
68 Alison Lyne, mother of Charlotte, stated that in 1993 when she was at the BRI after the BRHSC: `I felt like I had been abandoned'. [69]
69 In 1994, when Helen Sadler's son, Edward, was moved from the BRI to the BRHSC she stated that: `We were told that he might benefit from the change to more congenial surroundings'. [70]
70 Helen Johnson, mother of Jessica, told the Inquiry that the ICU at the BRI in 1995 was `limbo land, because there were adults in there as well as children and the adults were totally, you know, unconscious ...'. [71]
71 Commenting on the mixed adult-child environment, in her written evidence to the Inquiry, Brenda Rex, mother of Steven, described Ward 5 as it was in 1986:
`We walked over to the BRI and were shown round the ward by a sister. We were horrified to find both children and adults were placed on the same ward. I was told that work was underway to establish a nursery ward for babies and younger children.' [72]
72 Sandra Suckling, mother of Jason, stated that in 1988:
`Ward 5 had adults in it with the adults being at one end and children at the other. I felt that this was in some ways quite nice and I remember there was an old man in his seventies on the cardiac unit. He used to watch the children playing. He told me that he was very worried about having his own surgery and he said watching the children gave him the strength to go ahead with his pending heart surgery.' [73]
73 Another parent stated that in 1992:
`The nurses at the BCH were better at treating children than those at the BRI. There was more of a sense of personal responsibility there. At the BRI the nurses were dealing with adult patients and children at the same time. There seemed to be a higher ratio of nurses to patients at the BCH. At the BRI it often felt as though the children were being left unattended. Also the doctors at the BCH were better at dealing with children.' [74]
74 Philip Wagstaff, father of Amy, told the Inquiry that in 1993:
`... the impression of the ITU was that I was surprised that it was a mixed adult and children's unit as such. When we saw it the night before, I believe there was only one or two children in there, and the rest of the beds were adults who had undergone heart surgery. And obviously the adults were very poorly, and we found it distressing seeing all the other patients in there. It just struck us as unusual that they were all mixed in at that stage.' [75]
75 Alison Lyne stated that in April 1993:
`One of the nurses showed me around the Intensive Care Unit, it was full of adults and I found it very sterile and depressing. It would have been nice to have seen some concession made towards the babies and children such as pictures and mobiles. I felt that I was invading the adults' privacy.' [76]
76 In her written evidence to the Inquiry Debra Hill, mother of Thomas, stated that in April 1995:
`Thomas was surrounded by croaky old men and ladies on their last legs, even in Intensive Care'. [77]
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Footnotes
[60] WIT 0012 0010 Penelope Plackett
[61] WIT 0012 0011 Penelope Plackett
[62] WIT 0018 0003 Janet Baker
[63] WIT 0135 0006; this parent was one of a number of parents who gave a witness statement to the Inquiry and gave only partial consent to publication of the statement, as they did not wish to be publicly identified
[64] WIT 0023 0011 Christine Ellis
[66] WIT 0029 0010 Alison Thomas
[68] WIT 0134 0005 - 0006 ; this parent was one of a number of parents who gave a witness statement to the Inquiry and gave only partial consent to publication of the statement, as they did not wish to be publicly identified
[69] WIT 0408 0004 Alison Lyne
[70] WIT 0287 0013 Helen Sadler
[72] WIT 0219 0010 Brenda Rex
[73] WIT 0536 0008 Sandra Suckling
[74] WIT 0423 0008; this parent was one of a number of parents who gave a witness statement to the Inquiry and gave only limited consent to the publication of the statement, as they did not wish to be publicly identified
[76] WIT 0408 0005 Alison Lyne
[77] WIT 0381 0006 Debra Hill