Parkland Hospital, Springs

I am very dissatisfied with Parkland Hospital in Springs. My dad went in on 22 April with a broken hip, he was on his way to work and slipped. On 24 April he went to theatre and since then he has been hallucinating and he is confused, he has no idea where he, has no sense of time or space he sees strange objects.

It is impossible to speak to a doctor in the hospital and unfortunately there is another nurse each time I get there, so they always tell me they have no background to my dad's case.

It has been over two weeks since any member of the medical team has contacted our family regarding his condition, treatment plan, or progress. This lack of communication is extremely distressing and unacceptable.

Yesterday the nurse said to me the doctor is asking what the discharge plan is; is he going home or "somewhere", which I took to mean an institution or rehab of some kind. I was shocked. He came in sound of mind, now I need to arrange care for him, which I cannot afford, but no one has since told me what went wrong and why this is happening. I am unable to care for him. This was unexpected since he was a self-sufficient, independent person before all this happened, taking care of himself and his wife.

One doctor even discharged him on Saturday, but I did not take my dad with me because the doctor did not speak to me. He spoke to my father, delusional and confused, not being able to take in any information regarding future appointments, recovery plan, physiotherapy or medication, etc. One would think if the patient is delusional the next step would be to contact the family. Afterwards a nurse told me that he is now not discharged anymore, another doctor said he should stay. I only get second-hand information from nursing staff who say they can only give limited information.

It is very difficult to see my dad like this. He is a sharp, intelligent and logical person. Now he is acting like a retorted person and no one is telling me why, no contact or communication. I only see a nurse each day and they just tell me he is still confused, he did not sleep, whether he ate or not, etc, no useful information on the way forward. It is very frustrating and a very bad experience.