A horrified daughter claims a hospital error resulted in staff wrongfully signing a medical form to not readmit her 95-year-old dad, living with dementia, if taken ill.
Claire Debens, from Riverview Park in Gravesend, insists she never agreed to the treatment plan to “avoid hospitalisation”, Intensive Care and CPR, which he lacks the capacity to consent.
Claire Debens has called the mistake by Darent Valley Hospital “shocking”
To make matters worse, the 55-year-old says she was only alerted to the “shocking” mistake after it was discovered by his care home.
According to the Resuscitation Council’s latest version of the Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) form – a document that sets out a person’s care for future emergencies – if the person involved lacks capacity to be involved in decisions, a conversation must take place with the family or legal proxy.
The paperwork was filled out while Ronald Brown, who lives with Alzheimer’s disease, was being treated at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford last week.
The great-grandfather was taken by ambulance on October 15 after suffering a fall at his residency, Haslington Lodge Care Home in Greenhithe, that morning.
Claire said: “He was walking on his way to the dining room for breakfast, and just all of a sudden, he just kind of went all stiff and fell forward, and he was breathing, but he was just unresponsive.
Ronald, after being admitted to Darent Valley Hospital
“They didn’t really know what had happened – they actually said they thought they were losing him. It really frightened them, so they called for an ambulance, and they rang me, so I went straight up there.”
Initially, doctors suspected Ronald had Sepsis and passed him on to the medical team. He was later moved to the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) after it was deemed he had an infection.
He was discharged last Wednesday (October 22) morning.
But when he got to the care home, his daughter said they rang her and said: “Claire, your dad’s back, are you aware of a ReSPECT form?’
“I said no, and they said, ‘We didn’t think you would be’.”
A ReSPECT form, which sets out preferences around a patient’s clinical care, is kept with them at all times.
It’s different to a DNR, also known as a “do not resuscitate” form, which is a legal medical document that instructs healthcare providers not to perform CPR if a person’s heart stops or they stop breathing.
In Ronald’s ReSpPECT form it is noted that he lacks the capacity to participate in the decisions of the form, and where applicable, clinical decisions have been made in consultation with family or friends.
But Claire says a conversation was never had with her, and her name and signature are missing under the “emergency contacts and those involved in discussing” section on the form.
The ReSPECT form says to “avoid hospitalisation”
The 55-year-old said: “I ran to the hospital and spoke to AMU, who said, according to their records, I had a conversation with a consultant on the 15th, who discussed with me about the effects of CPR and that together, we’d come to this conclusion.
“I told them I didn’t speak to a consultant, and they said, ‘Well, that’s what’s on the system, and if you’re saying that’s not correct, you need to speak to PALS’ [Patient Advice and Liaison Service].”
In a bid to rectify the problem, Claire spent all morning the following day trying to ring their line, only for all her calls to go to voicemail.
She then went back to the hospital to visit the PALs office, but found it closed “due to unforeseen circumstances”.
“I went back to the ward and said to them, ‘I want you to put a note to say that until this is sorted, if my dad is poorly, he will be coming into hospital.
Claire’s 95-year-old dad, Ronald BrownClaire’s name and signature is not on the ReSPECT form
“The fact of the matter is, had the care home not thought something wasn’t right, I would have been none the wiser.
“What could have happened had I not found out about it? It could have been life-threatening.
“I just think it’s shocking. It’s shocking that I don’t know what’s happened.”
Claire has since had a meeting with a different consultant she had not met before over the mistake, who she says apologised and admitted he started filling in the form.
It’s understood another consultant then finished completing it without his knowledge and sent it home with her dad.
They also denied any knowledge of notes on the system, claiming she had a conversation with a third consultant and agreed to the plan.
Claire went to PALS to rectify the issue, only to find it was closed
“If you’re a professional, why would you sign something that hadn’t been fully completed? I don’t believe a word of it,” Claire added.
“He then said, ‘You can make a complaint if you want,’ so I asked how because PALS is closed, and he said he didn’t know.”
Claire has since had further meetings with a complaints manager, but is still waiting for answers.
Her frustrations came just one year after staff at the same hospital were filling in a DNR form with him, unaware he had dementia, while she had left the room to get a drink.
She was only made aware of what had happened when a visitor to a patient in bed next to Ronald’s told her.
The incident, which happened in early December 2024, was also reported to PALS at the time.
Claire added: “I just don’t trust them to look after him properly. Not all of them, some staff are amazing, and others, you can tell, really don’t want to be there.
“I know they’re under pressure and they need the beds and everything, but just too many mistakes are being made.”
Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, who run Darent Valley Hospital, were approached for comment.
They did not respond to KentOnline’s request at the time of publication.