\n Donald Marshall, 85, from Darlington, underwent the examination on October 5 and said he was shocked by what he described as a \u201ccomplete lack of care and attention\u201d from hospital staff once the procedure was complete.\n<\/p>\n
\n Donald Marshall, 85, from Darlington (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Marshall said the colonoscopy was carried out in a small treatment room which contained only a curtained-off area for patients to change into their preparation gowns.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said that during the examination, a significant amount of body fluid leaked onto the bed and onto his lower body, leaving him “soaked and distressed”.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWhen the nurse told me I could get dressed and go home, I expected to be handed wipes or a towel, or to be helped to clean up,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n The frontage of Darlington Memorial Hospital (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cTo my horror, I was left completely on my own. I had to use the prep gown to wipe myself as best I could and go home smelling of the fluid. Some of my clothes had to be dry-cleaned.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I\u2019ve never felt so humiliated and embarrassed in my life \u2014 I felt so alone and isolated in that moment.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Marshall claims that he didn’t have time to raise any issue at the hospital, due to the nurse who looked after him “walking away” from the pensioner directly after the procedure.\n<\/p>\n
\n He also added that he had to drive home from the hospital in his ‘soiled’ trousers, which the pensioner has described as a “horrific experience”.\n<\/p>\n
\n Donald went in for a colonoscopy earlier this month (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)\n<\/p>\n
\n He said he was “astonished” that no effort was made by medical staff to assist him after the procedure or to offer facilities for cleaning himself up.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s obvious that duty of care and personal hygiene were not a priority,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cTo be left in that state in a hospital was unbelievable.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n He added that the incident had left him questioning the culture of care at the hospital and saying he now “fears” going to Darlington Memorial Hospital.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Darlington Memorial Hospital sign (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe health and care of the patient should always come first,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt seems that basic standards of nursing care are being ignored.\n<\/p>\n
\n Darlington Memorial Hospital (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)\n<\/p>\n
\n “It made me feel uncomfortable, and it would make me think twice about using the hospital again. I’d much rather use Durham or Bishop Auckland in the future.\n<\/p>\n
\n Following the ordeal, Mr Marshall said he attempted to raise a complaint through the hospital\u2019s Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), but found it \u201cimpossible\u201d to speak to anyone directly.\n<\/p>\n
\n Entrance to Darlington Memorial Hospital (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAfter four attempts and only getting a recorded message saying someone would reply within three to four days, I gave up,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt felt as though my complaint was irrelevant.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n He said he was \u201cdeeply disappointed\u201d by the hospital\u2019s response and believes others may have had similar experiences but felt too discouraged to complain.\n<\/p>\n
\n Outside Darlington Memorial Hospital (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Marshall claims that he has a “mixed response” to the hospital in the past, which saw him receive good care in 1993 after he suffered a heart attack.\n<\/p>\n
\n But says that was “overshadowed” by this experience.\n<\/p>\n
\n County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Darlington Memorial Hospital, has been approached for comment.\n<\/p>\n
\n According to the NHS website, staff involved in endoscopy procedures are required to “follow strict hygiene and infection control protocols, including offering assistance and cleaning materials to patients where needed”.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Trust\u2019s website states that its PALS service \u201cprovides confidential advice, support and information\u201d to help resolve patient concerns quickly.\n<\/p>\n
\n As of publication, no response had been received from the Trust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Marshall, 85, from Darlington, underwent the examination on October 5 and said he was shocked by what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247195,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-247194","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}