I have created this petition to get more justice done for patients in hospitals and in COVID-19 Wards. After witnessing being in a COVID-19 ward at the Royal London Hospital Whitechapel, I saw for myself the lack of care and treatment that was given to my grandfathers last few days. If I was not there along with my mother and fiancé to witness the events I saw, we would of believed he passed peacefully but unfortunately this is not the case and my grandfather suffered from doctors decisions and refusing to try other methods of saving his life despite my grandfather being a very healthy man with no health conditions!

My aim for this petition is for the NHS doctors to be looked at more closely, i am not saying its all doctors but after what i have experienced in this ward myself with speaking to these selected doctors. Not only for COVID patients but for all peoples rights in hospital to be given to them ! Family communication is key especially as my grandfather couldn't speak much English.

Every human has the right to more treatment when asked and my grandfather asked for help and they refused! I don't want this to happen to anyone else as not everyone knows what happens behind closed doors

I have put the full story below:

This is a report/story of my witnessing to what happened in COVID-19 Ward 13F in Royal London Hospital.

My grandfather was a COVID-19 patient and was being treated at the Royal London Hospital and was admitted to hospital on the 17th of January into The Royal London.

Two days prior to my grandfather being admitted to Royal London Hospital, my mother who is also my grandfather’s next of kin called an ambulance 2 times for my grandfather concerned for his wellbeing to which on the first occasion he was left at home.  The 2nd occasion he was taken to Whips Cross hospital and then later discharged on the same day.  It was not until my mother called again that he was sent to Royal London Hospital.  Upon arriving to the Royal London Hospital my grandfather was put into a COVID-19 Ward to which a care plan was put into place, we were not made aware of what that plan entailed at any stage.

To this day we still have no information on the details of the plan he was on, the full list of medication given to him and what happened on the 1st day he was admitted into The Royal London.

Before you read this story below, I want to mention that he was more than just a grandfather to myself and my sister but was a father figure in our lives.  He had no health conditions, was fit and active for an 83 year old and always full of life.  His first language was Turkish, but he did understand some English but can often become confused as he knows very little.

Here is a day-to-day document of what went on in COVID-19 Ward 13F.

Day 1 (Sunday 17th January) Royal London Hospital Submission

Sunday 17th January, my grandfather was admitted to The Royal London, my mother called the hospital and they mentioned that the doctor said they will keep my grandfather in and keep an eye on him.

Nothing else was mentioned.

 

Day 2 (Monday 18th January)

Monday 18th January, my mother called the ward again and spoke to nurse, she was told that my grandfather was doing very well, he is sitting, eating, drinking and the nurse described him as a humble man.

They mentioned that he was on antibiotics and steroids but nothing more was mentioned.

 

Day 3 (Tuesday 19th January)

Tuesday 19th January, my mother called the ward a few times to check on my grandfather’s progress to which they said he is doing well and they were keeping an eye on him.

Nothing more was mentioned.

 

Day 4 (Wednesday 20th January)

Wednesday 20th January, my mother received a call in the early hours of the morning to come to the hospital as my grandfather’s condition was not looking good, to which we went and picked my mother up and went to the hospital.

When you go to the hospital you have police and security guarding all areas, to get up to floor 13F it is restricted access to which you need to have a key card to access.  Some kind nurses helped us to gain access.

My mother, my fiancé and I had to be dressed in full PPE gear before we could enter ward 13F.  When we arrived, my grandfather was having difficulty breathing, he was laying on his back (which is not advised for patients with breathing difficulties and no one sat him up during the duration of him being there).  He was on a Partial Rebreather mask and his oxygen levels were extremely low and he was extremely confused with what was happening, his anxiety was also affecting his breathing.

We managed to calm my grandfather down and it was mentioned another oxygen mask (AIRVO 2 FISHER HIGH VELOCITY NASAL INSUFFLATION High-Flow Nasal Cannula) was attempted to be given to my grandfather, but it was extremely painful.  However, upon questioning this further when this oxygen method was being placed on my grandfather at the time, the oxygen was turned to max capacity which is extremely uncomfortable, and no easing was done. 

I asked the nurse to test this on my hand which she kindly done, and I can see why it was extremely uncomfortable.  We requested to have this tried again but starting at low level and slowly increasing this till it became more comfortable.  After an hour or so my grandfather’s breathing went from 82% oxygen levels to 96%.  He was slowly adapting to this but needed our guidance and support to help him understand why he needed this as he did not understand what was happening to him and why he was feeling that way.  We requested to speak to a doctor.  We spoke to doctor who was in charge of my grandfather’s care.  We asked the doctor what medication he was on and she advised antibiotics and steroids.

The Doctor mentioned as my grandfather is on a ward plan, they could not change his medication but only provide painkillers.  We were not aware of any plans that were put into place as nothing was mentioned about this for my grandfather’s health.  The ward plan was to determine what medication my grandfather would be on and the doctor mentioned let’s see how he goes, and we can then discuss this further. The Doctor mentioned trial drugs are available to which we said yes, we would like to give this a go and my grandfather agreed to this as well as we just wanted all the help we could give him.  We also requested to have a list of the full medication he was on and the doctor said she will ensure to make this provided this to us.

 

When we left the hospital at 1pm that day he was stable and taking to the new oxygen very well and getting some rest.  Myself and my mother called several times to get an update but there was never anyone to pick up the phone and it is a constant battle to find out his wellbeing.  My mother managed to get through to one of the nurses who updated my mother on his progress at around 7pm that he was doing well, he was eating and drinking, sitting up and talking and was slowly progressing.  The same evening, my mother and I kept calling and again and no one was picking up the phone, it was not until my mother managed to get through to the ward at around 11:30pm that they mentioned my grandfather has come off the nasal ventilation and back onto the mask and is struggling to breathe and that we need to come to the hospital as soon as possible.

 

Day 5 (Thursday 21st January)

Thursday 21st January, my mother arrived at the hospital around 12:30am -1:00am to see my grandfather on the Partial Rebreather mask as he started panicking due to his anxiety and took off the AIRVO 2 FISHER HIGH VELOCITY NASAL INSUFFLATION High-Flow Nasal Cannula.  We were not informed of this but we had to call to find out that when he speaks to us we aid him to feel calmer and more at ease.  Due to his language barrier and of no understanding of what this virus is he was getting very confused and not understanding why he needed the oxygen.  When my mother managed to persuade him to put back on the AIRVO 2 FISHER HIGH VELOCITY NASAL INSUFFLATION High-Flow Nasal Cannula the oxygen level was put at 60% and my mother was told that this was the maximum that this goes to.

As we are not medical staff, we did not know the capacity of machines. It was from that day onwards my mother decided to stay day and night at the hospital to ensure he was getting the care he needed from eating, drinking, and getting the help when needed.  The Doctor had prescribed my grandfather with morphine and something for his anxiety.

His oxygen levels around 1:15am were between 81-84%.

That same day we requested to speak to doctor and spoke to the doctor. My mother mentioned that more needs to be done for my grandfather and that his oxygen levels are too low to which the doctor replied that he is dying, and we believe he has 24hours to live.

We were extremely furious as they could see my grandfather was fighting this but this doctor gave him a time frame which is unacceptable and no one knows how long someone will live for.  Whether it’s a medical observation this should not be said!  A timeframe should not be given!

My grandfather’s oxygen levels kept dropping below 80% which is extremely dangerous and started to affect the brain and the organs.  At around 5:26pm the High-Flow Nasal Cannula machine kept beeping stating that it was too high?  His oxygen levels were at 76%.  We pressed the buzzer and called for help but no one was coming and all that was said as always is that there is nothing anyone can do.  My grandfather was in agonising pain!  My mother went into the corridors and called for help but no one was came. We kept mentioning to doctors that he needs to be taken up to the next oxygen machine to which they were refusing.

That day I was desperately contacting head staff members, hospital seniors and I sent an email over to PALS to which every response was too delayed for such an urgent matter!

We were still not given full details of his care plan or medication.

 

Day 6 (Friday 22nd January)

Friday 22nd January, my grandfather’s breathing started to become more difficult and still noting was being done to help him and he was suffering.  While my mother was cleaning up, she found a document on the fridge saying “Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy (Recovery)” she had no idea where this document came from or when it was placed in the room as this was not handed to my mother nor was she ever told that there were trial drugs available for him to try that could possibly help him.  They left this letter in the room and they could see my father was in no fit state to acknowledge this or be able to read this letter has he cannot read English.

We again requested to speak to a doctor.  My mother mentioned the document and she said that we refused treatment, and this was logged on the system.  We told the doctor that we did not say anything about refusing treatment and stated that we said we would do whatever we could to save his life and under no circumstances was treatment refused.  We also mentioned that he needed a different oxygen method to be given to give him a chance, again this was refused!

My grandfather was left in an inhumane state and was neglected when he was struggling to breathe, he passed urine on the bed to which no one came to help him because the handover was being done for nurses and doctors!  Adequate care had not been given to my grandfather and if I or my mother did not press the assistance button no one would have come to aid my grandfather!  He was unable to press the assistance button himself because he was so poorly!  It was up to my mother and I to help my grandfather control his breathing and turn him to his side so his he could breathe better.

Day 7 (Saturday 23rd January)

Saturday 23rd January, I asked to speak to the doctor, this took over 2-3 hours for the doctors to arrive which seemed to be a daily thing.  No urgency is shown when someone needs the help.   

Myself and my mother spoke to the doctor and I requested an IV Drip to be put in place as my grandfather was getting dehydrated, even that was a battle to get as they kept saying he will be fine his body doesn’t need it, but we were telling them that my grandfather needs this as he was barely drinking water and his urine was dark!  My grandfather was slowly getting weaker and he needed aiding for drinking and eating.  The Doctor finally agreed to get him an IV Drip and we asked yet again that he needs a different oxygen to be put into place as my grandfather was suffering and yet again Dr Sattar denied this and said “there’s nothing, we can do he is dying.”  No other treatment was being offered, just painkillers to help with the pain.

We begged the doctors he needs to be given a chance and again and again they kept refusing!  We have been fighting for days with doctors for another oxygen machine for the CPAP machine to be given to my grandfather but there was always excuses, first it was that he would not be able to handle it, however to my research of looking into this intensely is that a CPAP airway system can be adjusted just like the High-Flow Nasal Cannula.  Another excuse that was mentioned was that my grandfather was on a ward plan and this plan cannot be changed.  However, on the Nice website this is stated for covid patient plans:

No plan or escalation plan was put into place should my grandfather deteriorate.  My grandfather had no health conditions to which he could not be refused treatment so why was he still not getting the treatment he deserves!

In the morning a nurse told my mother that he will die in the next 2 hours!

8:48pm - My grandfather’s oxygen levels began to drop, and he was in a lot of pain.  We pressed the nurses help button and minutes went by and no one came.  His oxygen levels began to drop below 60% to which there was no alarm on the system, my grandfather was in not in a fit state to press the button to let anyone know about this so it is just as well we were there!

My grandfather’s bed was changed that evening for a more comfortable one which was blown up.

 

Day 8 (Sunday 24th January)

1:25am

Sunday 24th January - My grandfather’s oxygen levels began to drop dramatically and the Welch Allyn Connex Spot Monitor with BP, Pulse Oximetry and Pro 6000 Ear Thermometer machine started to go off which never happened below, apparently if your oxygen levels drop below 90% the machine has an alarm in place so doctors and nurses can hear it and come to the patient’s aid.  However, when I looked at the machine that there was a sleep mode option which was turned on for a number of days, this was turned off when a new nurse code was scanned.

My grandfathers bed had deflated and no one came to check it.  I had to look at instructions of the bed myself on the internet and re-pump the bed up because no one was coming to fix it!

At this time in the morning my grandfather’s oxygen levels dropped below 69% and kept dropping.  We called the doctor again and yet again it took hours for the doctor to arrive.

I mentioned to the doctor that I have seen somebody in the ward 13F with a CPAP oxygen and why was my grandfather not being offered this.  The doctor said there is no one on this ward with a CPAP.  I said to the doctor that I had seen this myself in the ward walking past an open door where there was an overweight man with the CPAP machine strapped to his face.

The doctor kept denying this and said my grandfather would not be able to cope with the CPAP.  We begged the doctors to try this for him to give him a chance and they refused every option.

The doctor stood next to my grandfather and said the words “You know you are dying” to my grandfather!  I have this recorded and will take this further!  This is discrimination!  Why is it my grandfather could not be given the option for more treatment, but others can and how dare you tell my grandfather that he is dying!  Please tell me what is humane about telling somebody this to encourage and help someone fight or recover!?

At around 2:30pm my grandfather’s oxygen levels began to drop down to 45% but my mother and I moved him onto his side and gave him water through a straw as he was not capable of doing this himself to help him relax and his oxygen levels climbed to 60%.

Around 4:00pm my grandfather mentioned to me he couldn’t breathe, he said his nose was blocked and was painful.  I helped him blow his nose but it was still blocked.  This is now a few days of having the AIRVO 2 FISHER HIGH VELOCITY NASAL INSUFFLATION High-Flow Nasal Cannula and he was blowing out blood.  I called the nurse and requested to speak to the doctor.  Three hours later the doctor arrived which was around 7:00pm.  I mentioned the concerns about my grandfather’s breathing that his nose is getting blocked and that the oxygen is not flowing fully to his lungs because of the blockage. The doctor answered me that there was nothing they could do about this to which I replied can’t it be cleaned or a nasal spray to be given to clean up his airways so that he is more comfortable to which the other junior doctor replied I’m sure we can do that and walked out the room.

Over an hour later the nurse came back with a nasal cream that the doctor prescribed which did not help as this blocked his nose more.  Every time we asked for help nothing was being done.  My fiancé and I ensured to stay to help fight for my grandfathers’ life and kept calling doctors.

Since day one of being in hospital to that day my grandfather was only given one bag of IV fluid.

Day 9 (Monday 25th January)

From 12:00am that morning my mother was still in the room with my grandfather, my grandfather was due his painkillers between 12pm and 1am, he was not given anything.  My mother called the nurses in and they said to my mother as they saw her asleep in the chair and my grandfather asleep in no pain that they felt my grandfather did not need the painkillers.  We were told that every 6 hours he would receive paracetamol and it was decided because they could not see him in pain that this was not to be given to him!

My grandfather began to get more severe pain and his breathing became laboured. My mother called for a nurse to come and help, and they came in and said let me go for another injection.  Once the male nurse left the room he never came back for over an hour!

My mother held my grandfather while he suffocated from lack of oxygen and took his last breath.  No alarms went off when his oxygen dropped below 50% and my mother was left there to talk to my grandfather until he died.  My grandfather suffered for over an hour till he took his last breath with my mother by his side while no one else came to his aid or settled him to rest peacefully!

This is an inhumane death and he suffered as he went, not peacefully.  He suffocated to death from the lack of oxygen being given to him through the machine.  During the time this was happening NO ONE came in and helped or offered to make it more humane and peaceful for him while he passed away.

This has left my mother traumatised from watching her own father suffer such a cruel death!

Nurses finally came in and mentioned the doctor will come by shortly to which my mother went downstairs for fresh air and came back up 15 minutes later.  The doctor came and went.  Now the doctor came to my grandfather very quickly when he died but when we was asking for the doctor when my grandfather was alive it would take them 2-3 hours to come to which they would just look at him and tell him that he’s a dying man.

Now do not tell me that the COVID-19 ward was rushed off their feet or that they are under a lot of pressure and very busy as myself, my mother and my fiancé saw this all ourselves and I have got evidence of this. If my mother and I were not there during these days of my grandfather being in Royal London Hospital, he would have passed away a lot quicker and alone from the lack of care and treatment offered to him.

Now, what type of doctors are these to determine a time frame of when someone will die?  My grandfather’s blood is on the doctor’s hands for refusing more treatment to be given to him and he was neglected and discriminated due to his age!

My grandfather wasn’t offered drug trials instead we were told that we needed to ask for it and request it and each trial drug that we mentioned it was said that we could not choose which one he goes on but a computer selects this for him.

I believe he should have been put on a trial drug from the start when he came into hospital to increase his chances of surviving as from what I have heard from other patients is that their family members treatments were acted quicker and when their condition worsened, they were moved to use different oxygen or drug methods.

My grandfather was not given any options, no extra treatment offered, no other oxygen mask offered but only offered more drugs to reduce the pain.  The doctors of The Royal London Hospital killed my grandfather not this virus and justice needs to be given to my grandfather.

His humane rights were taken from him when from the day my grandfather entered the ward and asked for more help to be given and for his plan to change this should have been done.

My grandfather was neglected, no one coming to give him water, helping him eat, checking on his wellbeing.  If we were not there no one would have helped him.  He was shut off in a double doored room and left alone!

PALS did not act on this fast enough and the director of the hospital took far too long to act on this!

I honestly believe if the proper care was given to my grandfather from the start of his admission to hospital and from having other options offered to us as his family for his care that he would still be with us today.

COVID-19 wards are not rushed off their feet, it may be so in an ICU ward but in the ward I was present in it was a very calm and relaxed atmosphere with no rush whatsoever!

Each cubicle room had a double door so as soon as you entered there was another door to go through before going into the actual room.  If a patient is not capable of pressing their help button how will anyone know if that patient needs help, you could call for help but no one would hear you.  The ward was in complete silence.

Every doctor in the ward of 13F allowed my grandfather to die and his human rights were taken from him and the doctors listed below are all liable for my grandfather’s death.  His human rights under Articles 2 & 3 (see below) were taken away from him and I will ensure that this is taken further if nothing is done about this with the doctors and hospital!

 

Article 3: Freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/human-rights-act/article-3-freedom-torture-and-inhuman-or-degrading-treatment

 

Article 2 – Right To life

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/human-rights-act/article-2-right-life

 

We also requested a translator and was never given one!  My grandfather spent 4 days in a ward without family and loved ones on an oxygen machine that was slowly making him deteriorate.

What is being seen in hospitals is not the full truth and other patients in the wards have been shouting for help and for more care and they do not receive this!  Not enough family interaction is being done between the patient and family or the hospital and family to keep their wellbeing together!

I urge you to take this complaint extremely seriously and I will be reporting this to a number of places to ensure that justice is served for my grandfather and that this treatment is not done to anybody else to suffer the pain we have had to go through.  I was in this ward for over 4 days for more than 7 hours a day and I am witness to everything that happened.

 I am usually a private person but i am sharing this story to make others aware of what is happening in hospitals and that patients are dying because doctors choose who lives and who dies and i have seen this for my own eyes!

Please share this and raise awareness !!