"Poor care in Forth Valley Royal"

My granddad was taken to Forth Valley Royal Hospital due to delirium as a result of cellulitis in his foot. He was originally admitted to AAU. Trying to get a staff member to speak to regarding his care was so difficult. We waited at the desk and everyone just kept walking past us and wouldn’t make eye contact. Even if they are busy, just asking if we were ok and acknowledging our presence would have made us feel listened to. He had a fall overnight in AAU and we were not notified like the protocol states. When the day shift started they should have phoned us to notify us that he had fell, instead when we went to visit late afternoon he told us he pulled his back and when we went and asked for an update the nurse asked if we knew about him having a fall. He had a massive bruise all up his back and on the front of his left hand side, he was complaining of back pain and they didn’t take him for an xray or anything, but with the bruising he was clearly in a lot of pain. 

He was then moved up to A22. Trying to find a staff member to get any updates was impossible. We phoned the first night and all the nurse said was that he was still on antibiotics and that they were trying to wean him off oxygen. When we asked for more information we were told that they didn't know, and to phone later on. They never even told us how he was. When we went to visit we could never find a nurse for an update, we were always waiting ages to get into and out of the ward. They would see us standing waiting but ignore us and left us standing there for ages. When we phoned to find out details we were told a nurse would phone back but we never got any return phones calls. 

His phone went missing when he was moved up to the ward and we chased it up continuously. Every time we contacted AAU we were told it definitely wasn’t there and the staff in A22 said he didn’t come up with it. After about 5 days the phone turned up. He also lost his bottom dentures which never turned back up. 

Some staff on the ward were fantastic, one of the healthcare assistance. They made sure my grandad was washed, shaven, and even cut his hair which really made a difference. 

We went to visit him two days before he came home and he was really smelly and smelled the same the following day when we went in. When he came home on the Friday he had an accident and we were cleaning him. There was dried faeces all over his back and front which wasn’t from the accident he had at home as it would have been fresh. This would explain why he was so smelly, meaning he hadn’t been washed properly if at all in the days prior. 

The care my grandad has received in forth valley over the 4 weeks he was in was shocking and definitely below standards. Protocols were not followed and communication was basically non-existent. We had no clue what was going on the entire time he was in and we couldn’t trust what he was saying because he was very confused because of the delirium. We are very unhappy with the standard of care and his experience whilst staying in the hospital.