Corby Community Hospital 2023-07-01 Person 1 5 0

I am answering this on behalf of my late husband who spent 6 weeks in Corby Community Hospital. His experience there had a significant impact on him and he never recovered from it. He was a professional man (an award winning architect) and a pillar of the community but during his stay in hospital, he was not afforded the dignity and care one would hope to expect. When he returned home, he actually cried before telling me of some of the treatment he had received. He was often ignored when he asked for help to use the toilet which resulted in him having 'accidents' due to him being unable to get out of bed without assistance. He was then told off by nurses and made to feel like a naughty child. He told me of an occasion when a nurse went into his room to watch something on his TV. When he tried to make polite conversation with her, she totally ignored him. There was another occasion when some nurses said it was his fault he was in hospital and he'd brought it on himself. This was completely untrue as my husband had Multiple Myeloma, 6 spinal fractures and Parkinson's Disease. My husband was a highly intelligent, articulate and polite gentleman. He had never been in hospital before and did not expect to be treated with such callous disregard. I honestly think the effect on him made him lose the will to live, as he lost all his confidence and was never the same man again. The hospital had obviously not read his medical notes. When he was discharged we were visited by a Care Manager who did an Assessment on him. On the notes she was given by CCH it said his condition was due to an accident. There was no mention of him having Myeloma, Spinal Fractures and Parkinson's Disease. This was appalling.

As you will see from the notes I have made above, a great deal could have been done to improve my late husband's experience of being in Corby Community Hospital. Most importantly he should have been treated with dignity and compassion and not made to feel like a naughty child. There is obviously a significant lack of communication between Kettering General Hospital where he was discharged from and Corby Community Hospital. His experience at KGH was also very poor and I am not surprised they are in special measures. All NHS staff should receive training in treating patients with dignity and respect. You would hope this would already be provided and perhaps it is, but is certainly isn't implemented by many of the nurses or doctors we have met.