Wigan family adds more complaints to hospital probe into pensioner's care

Although Mr Erlam is now at home, family members continue to add complaints to the official investigation into his treatment, with the latest worries concerning phone calls to the hospital to find out how he was going unanswered.

They also say they are extremely worried about the effect on elderly patients of being isolated in hospital without visitors due to Covid-19 precautions.

And they have raised more problems with the track and trace system, with Mr Erlam’s granddaughter continuing to receive messages from them despite having no idea how they got her number.

This is on top of the complaint they previously submitted saying it was track and trace staff, not the hospital, which informed them of the positive Covid-19 test result.

Unfortunately Mr Erlam being discharged from Wigan Infirmary is not the end of the family’s ordeal, as they also say they were experiencing severe difficulties finding carers able to cater to his needs at home.

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh (WWL) Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has said Mr Erlam’s care is now the subject of a full review and therefore cannot comment further.

Mr Erlam’s daughter Janet said: “Before he got discharged his mental health was in a dreadful state. The important thing is to let him live out the rest of his days in peace at home.

“It was a no-win situation. Being away from his family was doing him more harm than anything they were doing to help. I only knew how sad he was because he was in tears and a student nurse brought the phone to let him talk to me. He spoke to mum as well and that was the only contact we had with my dad in six weeks.

“We also couldn’t get through to the ward while he was there.

“At one point it was well over a week before we got any information on my dad.

“Last week was a nightmare. My daughter was again being pestered by track and trace by text. She’s spoken to everybody and we’ve still not found out who gave her number to them.

“We just want to give him the quality of life he deserves.”

However, that may not be as easy as the family was hoping, as they have encountered further difficulties setting up suitable arrangements for Mr Erlam to be helped to continue living independently.

His condition deteriorated dramatically during his hospital stay, with family now saying he cannot walk and requires end-of-life care.

Janet said: “We can’t get the care. My daughter and I have been his carers but now we need 24-hour care and we’re not comfortable doing the personal care.

“There are just no carers available to do that. The earliest slot we were being offered was 10am.

“We’ve agreed for the lockdown interim to pay ourselves for a different care company but something else is going to have to be sorted out.”

With WWL probing the family’s complaints about poor communication, patients being isolated in hospital with visitors unable to attend and the apparent inability to keep Mr Erlam away from people who had tested positive for Covid-19, Janet said families needed to think carefully if elderly relatives were going into hospital while society is still tackling coronavirus.

She said: “Ours has been a terrible experience but we’re just one family. I can only say to people that they really do need to be vigilant for their relatives. If they see something or feel something isn’t right they must raise it. It’s not going to get better if people don’t start speaking out about how they are being treated.

“I know it’s an awful thing to say but I don’t think I will ever be able to forgive them for what they’ve done to my dad.”

A WWL spokesperson said: “WWL always welcomes feedback from those who have experienced the use of our services.

“A full review into the care given to Mr Erlam is currently under way, therefore, at this time, the Trust is unable to comment further on individual cases.”

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