By Helga Warzecha
Salient points in the complaint about Dani's care.... For more information see Helga's Blog - link
1. Dani’s heart was damaged in 2007 because of lack of care and observation by both
doctors and nurses on dialysis unit – they were the experts.
2. The dialysis staff blamed Dani for her symptoms saying she was non-compliant
3. Had Dani not asked for the heart scan she would have died not long after April 2007
4. Hospital categorically denies that there was either an incident report or an investigation report into what happened (letter from them dated 5/12/12).
5. Hard to believe this, but if this is really the case someone else could die or be damaged in the same way.
6. Dani was given no more than a 30% chance to survive this incident.
7. She survived but with massive damage to her heart, she required valve replacements which never happened – prior to dialysis she had no heart problems despite aggressive chemo when she was 16
8. Lack of care and observation again can be shown in 2011 – Dani started losing muscle mass and fat, including her breasts diminishing and her belly started to swell – she had developed ascites – not the same as most people with heart problems as the excess fluid was only around her belly – she looked heavily pregnant – she claimed she looked like a starving woman from Africa. Her ascites was infected with listeria, the day before her 30th birthday 3.5 litre was drawn from her belly. At this point there was no listeria in her blood.
9. She died suddenly. Her consultant says her 3.5 litres of fluid was covert (measure what 3.5 litres looks like). I offered that they do an autopsy – they declined, said he knew what she died from. In same conversation told me he did not know why she had ascites.
10. How can anyone be certain that the same set of circumstances cannot occur again to another patient on that dialysis unit as no investigations or incidents have been acknowledged or reported on.
11. I don’t want money – I just want a bit of openness and honesty – for them to acknowledge that there are shortcomings and that they have instigated procedures in order for such events not to happen again. Is that really too much to ask for those who are still being treated or are to be treated by them? If your kidneys failed and you had to be treated by them surely you would want to know that they have stringent procedures in place so that they can recognise infection before it causes massive damage? You would want to know that they the experts would have your best interests at heart and that they would not blame you for your failing health. If Dani had been an animal and treated the way she was treated they would have been prosecuted for wilful harm, and causing undue suffering. The caring professions somehow are immune from such prosecution – Is that fair?
Salient points in the complaint about Dani's care.... For more information see Helga's Blog - link
1. Dani’s heart was damaged in 2007 because of lack of care and observation by both
doctors and nurses on dialysis unit – they were the experts.
2. The dialysis staff blamed Dani for her symptoms saying she was non-compliant
3. Had Dani not asked for the heart scan she would have died not long after April 2007
4. Hospital categorically denies that there was either an incident report or an investigation report into what happened (letter from them dated 5/12/12).
5. Hard to believe this, but if this is really the case someone else could die or be damaged in the same way.
6. Dani was given no more than a 30% chance to survive this incident.
7. She survived but with massive damage to her heart, she required valve replacements which never happened – prior to dialysis she had no heart problems despite aggressive chemo when she was 16
8. Lack of care and observation again can be shown in 2011 – Dani started losing muscle mass and fat, including her breasts diminishing and her belly started to swell – she had developed ascites – not the same as most people with heart problems as the excess fluid was only around her belly – she looked heavily pregnant – she claimed she looked like a starving woman from Africa. Her ascites was infected with listeria, the day before her 30th birthday 3.5 litre was drawn from her belly. At this point there was no listeria in her blood.
9. She died suddenly. Her consultant says her 3.5 litres of fluid was covert (measure what 3.5 litres looks like). I offered that they do an autopsy – they declined, said he knew what she died from. In same conversation told me he did not know why she had ascites.
10. How can anyone be certain that the same set of circumstances cannot occur again to another patient on that dialysis unit as no investigations or incidents have been acknowledged or reported on.
11. I don’t want money – I just want a bit of openness and honesty – for them to acknowledge that there are shortcomings and that they have instigated procedures in order for such events not to happen again. Is that really too much to ask for those who are still being treated or are to be treated by them? If your kidneys failed and you had to be treated by them surely you would want to know that they have stringent procedures in place so that they can recognise infection before it causes massive damage? You would want to know that they the experts would have your best interests at heart and that they would not blame you for your failing health. If Dani had been an animal and treated the way she was treated they would have been prosecuted for wilful harm, and causing undue suffering. The caring professions somehow are immune from such prosecution – Is that fair?