Hospital gives stroke dad wrong pills — twice

Stroke patient Muhammad Sajjid — wrong pills.

THE family of a stroke victim twice discharged from the Royal Oldham Hospital with the wrong pills is demanding to know what went wrong.

Muhammad Sajjid was seconds away from swallowing pills prescribed for someone else when his daughters spotted the mistake.

The 42 year old had a stroke four years ago and was admitted to hospital from his home in Selkirk Avenue, Coppice, in January then again in May, both times for several weeks.

His daughter Ansa said: “He came home the first time with a blister pack of medication, and just as my mum was about to give it to him, I saw it was printed with someone else’s name.

“My mother can’t read English so hadn’t noticed. Some of the medication was missing from the pack, so I believe nurses on ward F7 would have given it to him before he came home.

“We rang the patient advice and liaison service, who asked us to take the medication back.”

The same thing happened the second time the father of six was discharged: “My sister, Nazesh, saw it that time and stopped my mother giving it to him - but again some were missing, so I presume he must have been given them before leaving hospital,” said Ansa.

The family contacted PALS and was again asked to return the pack, but has kept it and made an official complaint instead.

Ansa said: “My dad is bed-bound and very ill. His seizures are worse, he’s not as alert and he has difficulty swallowing. We will never know but it does make us wonder if it was because he had been given the wrong medication.”

Last time he came home Mr Sajjid arrived with medication printed with the name Freda O’Neill, with instructions to take only two amitriptyline a day — half his dose. There was also a pack of digoxin, which he doesn’t use.

Ansa said: “Some were missing from the pack, so he must been given them in hospital.

“It’s disgusting. The NHS is supposed to be looking after us and providing care and we are supposed to trust them.

“We didn’t make a fuss the first time because genuine mistakes do happen and we understand that. But for it to happen a second time is unacceptable.

The family is still waiing for a reposnse to its official complaint.

Dr Tina Kenny, acting medical director at the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We have robust policies in place to ensure medicines are correctly prescribed and administered. These procedures appear not to have been followed correctly, which is unacceptable. We are looking into this as a priority.: