Why be so callously unprofessional as to actually force somebody to have a catheter inserted?

Tracy Jackson messaged us to ask if we would share her concerns about her Mothers' care at UHCW University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire - who amongst other despicable acts, actually forced Brenda Jackson (who had capacity) to have a catheter inserted against her will.

"Hi there I wonder if u could post this on my behalf as I feel that this info needs to be out there as painful as it is. This is about my lovely mum who passed away on Boxing Day due to mistreatment and hospital neglect

So I thought I’d post on here it’s difficult because feelings are still so raw I lost my mum on Boxing Day 2020 she went into hospital on Tuesday, the 22nd of December she was taken in by paramedics with a suspected chest infection she was coughing up green mucus had a temperature of over 40 I was struggling to breathe. My mum is 71 and has a history of asthma and also in 2017 she had a massive heart attack. On the Tuesday she was assessed in A&E and I decided to do A Covid swab this test later came back negative she was treated for a chest infection by intravenous antibiotics and also as she was dehydrated she was given IV fluids. She was then transferred to a ward .

On the Tuesday afternoon she rang me a few times from her mobile phone and said that she started to feel better and she had. She didn’t sound as wheezy and she said that she was able to breathe better. She was eating and drinking without any problem. On the Wednesday she called me and she sounded a little bit worse than the day before she was still able to talk and eat and drink. She was in a side room by herself. The doctor rang me During the day on Wednesday to say that she had seen a cardiologist and although they didn’t think that she’d had a heart attack because she presented as being very breathless with her last heart-attack that they were going to start some precautionary medication to help her heart. On Thursday 24th of December Christmas Eve we had a phone call from a different doctor on the ward saying that they wanted to discuss something called a respect form. I’ve never heard about this so I asked what it was and what it meant I said it was a form that they filled in about decisions and steps will be made should my mum‘s heart stop and I said so you’re telling me that it’s a DNR order then. I asked if they needed my consent because if they did I would be giving it and I asked if they need my moms consent they said that they needed nobody‘s consent because it was a clinical decision that had been made at hospital level.

They then said that a decision had been made that it wouldn’t be in my mums best interests to restart her heart. We then went in to see my mum in Xmas eve in the evening and to find out what was going on when we got there my mum was still able to talk but she was still very breathless, she asked about how our day at Been and as it was my daughters 18th birthday said happy birthday to her. She then went on to tell us about something that she termed as having been awful that day and said that she’d had a catheter bag fitted against her well and without her consent. Now my mum was a very proud lady and she was absolutely mortified that they’ve actually done this she said that she told them that she felt that she didn’t need it and that she’d actually got out of bed that morning and use the bathroom on her own. She said that she told the nurses she didn’t use the catheter bag but they insisted on doing it . Now the other thing to consider when it comes to my mum is that she was actually registered blind and she could only see outlines and shadows, she was also very hard of hearing and usually wore to hearing aids however the paramedics only took her in with one hearing aid. We didn’t know that until that point because up until then we hadn’t been allowed to visit. So it boils down to assault because my mum told them during the process of the catheter bag procedure just stop that she didn’t want it but she didn’t need it she told them that they were hurting her, they knew that she was having problems with her breathing yet they kept repositioning her on the bed at one point she said they laid a completely flat and she couldn’t breathe and felt like she was passing out. I’ve lost the plot at this point and went out and called a doctor to come into the room to demand what was going on the doctor came in and my mum told the doctor exactly what she told me and the doctor said that basically they do use they were using the catheter bag to monitor urine output so it didn’t put a strain on her heart. My mum then turn round and said well I don’t feel like I’ve had a heart attack but I tell you what if I was going to have one then I would have one after what’s happened today because she was so distressed by all the doctor literally turn round and said well a catheter bag insertion wouldn’t cause a heart attack. My mum then started talking to her about this respect form they’d spoken to me about on the phone. Told the doctor that she’s never once said that she doesn’t want resuscitation that in fact she did want resuscitation??????????????????????. The doctor then said that the they decided that it was not in her best interest to have a heart restarted and that did my mum know what resuscitation entailed, it’s onto than say that it’s not how it looks on the films it’s invasive and how would she rather pass away surrounded by her family or with someone jumping up and down on her chest now I think that’s incredibly insensitive thing to say to someone who’s already poorly my mum sat and thought about it for a minute and then said I still want resuscitation. The doctor then said well it’s usually a consultants decision but as you have such strong views I’ll note it down for tonight should you deteriorate and require resuscitation it will be provided tonight however you need to speak to the doctor in the morning about and going forward long-term. My mum was quite happy to do this and the last thing she said to me as we were leaving just before 11 o’clock on Christmas Eve was that she was going to speak to the doctor the next morning about the resuscitation. As we left we saw the dr on the ward who said they were running some tests overnight to see if there were any indication of a heart attack. So it’s worth noting at this point that my mum also spoke to the doctor on Christmas Eve in front of us and said that if they thought that she was that bad that she’d be willing to go to intensive care the doctor said that discussions have been held about that and that they didn’t feel it was a suitable option for my mum and that she wasn’t poorly enough at that point for intensive care so if she wasn’t poorly enough for intensive care, why was she poorly enough to discuss what boils down to a clinically decided DNR ? ?Christmas day Came and I phoned up the hospital around 7 o’clock in the morning I was told that she’d had some sleep and that there was no change so I felt reassured that my mum would be speaking to the doctor that day. We got on with our morning and the kids open presents et cetera, just before we were about to start lunch we had a phone call from the hospital to say that my mum had deteriorated and that she was now non responsive and unable to talk. They said that they were going to start given her some medication as she had too much fluid in her body so they needed to give her something to help her pass more water. They also said that they was going to be placing her on the amber care pathway I’ve never heard of this so I question what it was they said that everything would remain the same with the treatment the antibiotics , heart treatment and also?????? IV fluids but would be giving her something to reduce the amount of fluid in her body .

We decided to go in to see my mum in the hospital on Christmas Day during the afternoon when we got there she was peaceful I’m just look like she was sleeping she had good colour but was wearing a full oxygen mask but still struggling for breath one of the doctors came in and explained that they had the results from the tests the night before

Indicated that she had a heart attack. I said to the doctor that my mum had had the catheter procedure the day before and she was very unhappy and vocal about it and when did this heart-attack ??happen. Again the dr was very dismissive And said that a catheter procedure wouldn’t cause a heart attack but I question them and said but it could if it caused a high level of distress the doctor didn’t want to commit himself to an answer. I also at this point said well Paul should be transferred to a cardiology ward and I was told no because she is receiving the same treatment here as she would there.?So evidently my mum did have a heart attack after the catheter bag procedure?.the dr said that the next 48 hours were critical and that the amber care pathway would be reviewed after 48 hours.

We went home after a few hours and find a ward later on in the evening before bed we were told by two nurses that they couldn’t give any information over the phone so we weren’t very happy with that. At 3:30 am on Boxing Day morning I received a phone call from the ward from the doctor saying that my mum has now been placed on palliative care end of life care. That they were going to be withdrawing all of the treatments that they’ve been providing?. Point my mum had been on Amber care pathway for a maximum of 15 hours nowhere near the 48 hours they mentioned I questioned this and the reason for the decision was that my mum had deteriorated yet again overnight. We got to the hospital within about 20 minutes and when we got there found my mum in the room on her own with nothing but an oxygen mask on again struggling for every breath. In the length of time it took us to get to the hospital I don’t feel it was possible for them to remove all the drips and monitors and things that were surrounding her so I believe that they withdrew them first and then telephone me I questioned the decision about the end of life care and again I was told it was a clinical decision made at Hospital level. I stayed with her for a few hours from about four until about 730 in the morning in which times I sense a chaplain to pray and give her a blessing.

I had to return home as my partner had to go to work so I needed to sort alternative arrangements out for my little boy. When I returned home I just felt things weren’t right so I phoned the ward and demanded that when the consultant came on could he call me please as I wanted a second opinion and I wasn’t happy with the decisions made overnight as my mum‘s heart was still beating and she was still breathing for herself although her breathing was very laboured I said to them that basically they’re just leaving her to die. Within minutes I had a phone call from the consultant saying that there was no point in a second opinion as my mum had barely hours to live that the heart attack that she’d suffered on Christmas Eve had caused extensive heart Failure to an already weak heart I questioned why she hadn’t been transferred to a cardiology ward water intensive care he said that there was no more on a cardiology ward that they could do them what they were already doing and I said well there would be specialist treatments and stuff there that’s the difference but again he dismissed this I ask why she hadn’t been transferred to intensive care and he said that they didn’t feel that she needed intensive care as the a lot of the treatments they provide would be intrusive and there was no guarantee that it will work in fact they weren’t even willing to try. So I sat with my mum on Boxing Day morning again for 10 am until 1:55 pm watching her struggle for every breath her breathing rate is getting slower and slower until she took her final breath. In that time not one nurse came to do her observations or check check on her to see if she was comfortable a couple Poke their head round the door and asked if I wanted a drink or anything to eat, which I found very insensitive and then just moments before my mum passed away I cleaner came into the room and said she needed to clean. She said that we had to leave the room??????? so we did but we were watching my mum through the window in the corridor in that time doctors and nurses saw us standing there?And I told them that we’ve been chucked out the room they just said did we want to go to the relatives room I refused and said that we were staying where we were but they didn’t once question why the cleaner had gone in to clean the room of a dying patient minutes from death when we eventually got back into the room it was only a matter of about five minutes before my mum passed away?.

All this happened at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire. They provided no intervention whatsoever and it was evident that they were just going to let my mum deteriorate deteriorate further and eventually die. You hear about this all over Facebook and while you don’t discount it and think it’s a lot is a part of you thinks but it’s Facebook how do you know how accurate this is? But it’s real, It’s happening and it happened to my mum. I did worry that they might put Covid on the certificate as cause of death but they haven’t they’ve put it down to congestive heart failure followed bye a heart attack and an infection of exacerbated asthma. Because I raise concerns about the catheter bag procedure I received a phone call on Tuesday this weekFrom a consultants medical examiner he was going through all of my moms nights. He said that after my mum’s last heart attack in 2017 her heart was in poor shape???. Nobody relayed this information to us at all whatsoever we thought that she’d made a recovery from the heart attack although her health had deteriorated in the last couple of years we had no idea that my poor mum Was been living with only 20% heart function?,

Should receive no follow-up appointments for further checkups and she was just under treatment from her GP for regular ongoing heart medication along with medication for her asthma and also she had a prescribe nebuliser at home that she used frequently I asked the medical examiner if the past few years when she’s been needing to use the nebuliser at home to help with her breathing whether it was more of a heart condition or more of an asthma condition and he said that the likelihood was that it was caused by my moms heart which in turn affected her lungs And her breathing. None of this I don’t think was ever explain to my mum she didn’t ever say anything to us about it and nobody ever checked to see her comprehension of things or if she’d heard correctly being that she was so hard of hearing I’ve been through her paperwork and there have been no hospital appointments whatsoever for her in regard to her heart so I feel collectively between the GP and the hospital they have been massive failings??. I will be taking all of this further to the “care quality commission and also seeing a solicitor once all the funeral arrangements are sorted and the dust settles a bit. But the reality of it is they are leaving elderly people in hospital just to die I’ve witnessed it I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes with my mum.Apologies that this is so long and apologies if this has upset anybody but I think that the information needs to be out there???".