Share review of Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary

Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary 2022-08-16 Person 2 5 0

My Dad was admitted to hospital after a terrible fall in the Care home he is staying in. He ended up needing surgery for a very bad femur break. We live a long way from the hospital (90 minute drive) and tried over 20 times to get through to the Ward the day after his operation to see how he was. Constantly on hold or returned to Reception. When we did get through the staff were far too busy to spend time on the phone explaining how our Dad was. All we were told was he was receiving a unit of blood. We tried later on in the day to get through again and it was constantly engaged. We eventually got through at 10:30 pm at night and we were very worried and upset and had to plead with staff to let us speak to our Dad. It is such a worrying time for people that live so far away from the hospital and are unable to visit regularly. this was a major operation for an 82 year old man. He also said that he has constantly been pressing his buzzer as he is bedridden and no-one answers. He has a mobile phone but the room he is in does not allow him to make calls as no reception. We fully understand that the hospital is extremely busy but surely worried relatives should be able to speak to a member of staff that is willing to explain how things are going. We are his next of kin he has no-one else. The NHS is overstretched which is terrible.