Helen Judges is distraught after hospital errors prevented her from saying goodbye to her mother and delaying the burial.
Anne Crane went to George Eliot hospital on January 4th. Doctors suspected a heart attack. She died on January 8th. The hospital moved Anne at night without telling Helen, who wanted to know of any changes.
Helen says if she knew of the move, she would have visited and been there when her mother passed. It took the hospital over three weeks to sign release papers. Helen says that she was told multiple times it would happen soon, and one worker even forgot.
The hospital wouldn’t answer questions about Anne’s care, stating they cannot comment on specific situations. Dr. Catherine Free states that patient care is most important, and they always check care concerns.
Mrs. Crane moved wards the night before she passed away, and Helen had asked the hospital to call her if anything changed. Her mother’s move qualifies as a change, according to Helen. She still doesn’t know why her mom moved. If Helen knew, she believes she’d have gone to the hospital first.
The hospital called Helen around 8 AM the next day. They instructed her to get there quickly. Helen, working in Hinckley then, battled morning traffic to reach Nuneaton.
When she arrived, she didn’t know her mum was moved and went to the wrong room thirty minutes later. Staff redirected Helen. By the time she got to her mom, it was too late. Her mother passed shortly before her arrival, she learned. Helen feels robbed of the chance to be with her mom at the end.
Then the hospital delayed signing the paperwork needed so Helen could bury her mom. Supposedly, this should take three to five days.
Three weeks went by, and things were not finished. Helen claims she got several excuses for delays. One person hadn’t seen Mrs. Crane enough to sign, and two more staff members couldn’t sign it either; one worked nights, and another couldn’t leave their unit.
Almost three weeks later, she was told it would be signed soon, but two days later, the person forgot, according to Helen. At that point, the Press got involved.
The Press appearing to help, forms were done within a day. However, Helen said they were filled incorrectly, and the registrar sent them back to the hospital.
It was such a difficult experience. The hospital should ease the stress, Helen said. She wouldn’t wish it on anyone. She had to fight to get the form signed, she says, and stated the forms got filed the next day correctly.
Helen cannot grieve, being so stressed, and cannot lay her mother to rest. The funeral won’t happen until the end of February, nearly two months after her death. The fight took a toll on her mental health, and she got medicine to help with this.
Her mum hated hospitals and cried every time, says Helen. To her, it felt awful knowing she was laying alone in the one place she hated. “I know it’s just her body”, she said.
The paperwork brought more shock. Her mum died from hospital-related pneumonia and she thought they treated her for her heart. Nobody told her about pneumonia before then.
Helen says nobody mentioned pneumonia during the times she sat there, and it was like a shock as she never expected it. She caught pneumonia there, and this was the real cause of her death.
Her mum was blunt and did anything for anyone. Helen called her the fourth service. If someone needed her, she was there. She cooked and watched the kids, always. Her mom was her angel, Helen said.
Helen hopes her story will spare other families from this. Losing someone is hard. People shouldn’t undergo that. Someone needs to change how things are run.
The news asked the hospital about Mrs. Crane’s care, communication, and paperwork delays. Also, they wondered if any changes would be made.
They also inquired about bereavement policies and whether Helen had been aided by it. The news questioned how the hospital prevents in-hospital illness and if they followed rules in Mrs. Crane’s instance.
The hospital denied any comment on any topic, and also did not apologize to them. Dr. Free said they cannot comment on cases. Patient care is her number one issue, and concerns always get a check.
Helen felt the hospital’s silence was sad and upsetting, but not surprising. They covered up errors, she says, and this is unforgivable. She met with managers to discuss it, and Helen says they said she was treated poorly, communication was lacking, and more training will be required. When asked, the hospital did not respond.