"Staff attitude and treatment"

Dear Mr Brendon Burns,

My Grandfather passed away in L0 recently while he was in palliative care. I am absolutely disgusted and appalled at the treatment of his comfort care in his final weeks and months. Even speaking with the consumer liaison team a few weeks prior to his passing I found that at least 50% of your nursing staff in L0 had not been efficient enough in managing his symptoms and distress from a holistic approach, dealing with the emotional, psychological and physical aspects of his palliative care. The older nurses were rude in tone to him and us as a family, I believe they didn't check on him often and left him to suffer in his final weeks of life. I am absolutely appalled in the treatment of my Grandfather and will not be recommending any person I know to the Palliative care team in L0 ever. I felt the reaction times of the nursing staff was appalling when he couldn't breathe and had an oxygen saturation level of 81%. I believe they yelled at him when he was confused, didn't care he was having panic attacks. If I wasn't there every night he would have suffered even more.

I would like to have a one on one meeting with you and not speak to the consumer liaison team as it all gets swept under the carpet. I feel absolutely sorry for any family that has to endure this treatment especially in a 1st world country like Australia and in 2020. I felt your staff lack empathy, compassion and emotional or intellectual /interpersonal intelligence. Imagine if this was your loved one being neglected. I turned up to the ward and my Grandad died within 7 minutes of me being in his room. At no time before he passed were our family called to say our Grandad and Dad was dying. I walked into the room and he had breathing and sounds consistent with the death rattle and he had a build up of brown secretions of his tongue. The nurses hadn't even cleaned him mouth or lips that day. They knew he was on a hydromorphone and midazolam syringe drive pump and left him to die alone. I feel your nursing staff need to gain some empathy and compassion of the terminally ill and in my opinion, need retraining.