"My parent with a broken hip"

Recently my elderly parent, who is living with dementia, fell in the nursing home where they reside. They were taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital where it was determined that they had a neck of femur fracture and would need a partial hip replacement. They spent the night in the ED. My parent was added to the surgical list and had their surgery the next night which was wonderful. Up until this point my parent had been mobilising independently without an aid.

Less than 48 hours after their surgery, my parent was discharged back to the Home, well below their previous mobility and the Home was told to keep my parent resting in bed. We were told there would be handover to the physios in the Home - but there are no physios in the Home. Within an hour of being back at the Home my parent's oxygen saturation was taken multiple times and was well below the normal range, they were taken back to FSH and re-admitted.

Since being readmitted my parent has moved through multiple wards and not been seen for any kind of rehabilitation from their surgery. On multiple occasions I have been asked by staff about the surgery, as if they were unaware of how recently it had occurred.

In summation, my parent has been in hospital for several days since their surgery and seen once, the day after, for any sort of hip rehab/therapy, apart from their respiratory concerns which were dealt with very well. I understand the health system is consistently under a lot of pressure but I am extremely disappointed in the care level for my parent, as even though they are from a nursing home and in an older age bracket, the services provided should, I feel, be equal, as they are just as important to us as any other patient is to their family.

I have only once been contacted by a doctor post surgery, which was when my parent was readmitted in the ED, and they were very explicit about what they were trying to achieve to address my parent's oxygen levels but made no mention of their hip rehab.