The relatives of the deceased received a death certificate at the hospital, which lists all the diseases the man suffered from, according to the doctors, these diseases are the causes of death, but there is no single exact cause.
He was rushed to Šiauliai hospital
According to Kristina, the relatives do not know to this day what exactly happened to the father, whether it was still possible to save him and why his life ended. These questions were not answered, because the doctor did not come to the meeting, and other doctors refuse to comment.
“We couldn’t get in touch with the treating doctor, because when I called on the day of my father’s death, he was at a conference, and another doctor snapped that she couldn’t comment because she hadn’t seen him.
Before that, my father was in the Joniškis hospital, everything is entered into the system, you open the computer – and you look and comment on the situation,” laments the daughter of the deceased.
According to Kristina, the man was brought to the reception department of Joniškis Hospital with inflammation of the ureters. He also had heart problems, a pacemaker was put in and the man started turning yellow.
According to Kristina, her father was still able to walk, in Joniškis they gave him antibiotics to reduce the inflammation, but when the blood tests did not show inflammation anymore, his legs began to swell, the doctor did all the tests, monitored and observed the patient for two days.
One night, the man’s pulse rose to 150 beats per minute, so he was taken to the Šiauliai hospital for further treatment, but two days later his life ended.
“The day before his death, he could no longer see anything. I came to visit him in the evening, and half a pill was placed on the cabinet. He didn’t get up immediately, he had lost his strength. I asked the nurse if he needed to take this pill, she snapped that of course he did.
But how can he take the pill if he can’t even see it? If I hadn’t come, he wouldn’t have even drunk it. In the most basic way, the employees are not doing their job,” complains the woman.
The deceased’s belongings were given away in a garbage bag
Around 2 o’clock in the morning, before his death, the man called Kristina twice, but her phone was muted, so she did not answer the call. After that, she didn’t hear anything about her father until 9 o’clock in the morning, when the woman received a call from the hospital staff who told her the sad news that her father had died.
“After hearing this news, I immediately went to the hospital, my sister also came. We both just stood in the corridor, life was going on around us, patients were walking around and the question kept popping into my head: “Why is my dad no longer alive?”
Later, a nurse came to us and asked: “Did they give you your things yesterday?” I said: “Yesterday in that sense?” After all, he was still alive yesterday, I left after 19:00 and left him alive.”
Then the nurse brought us a garbage bag that contained our dad’s things and just put him on the ground.
One nurse took pity on us, she called the head of the department, who took us to an office full of staff. Usually such conversations are private, my mother died five years ago, the doctor called me very nicely, offered to sit down, asked if you needed help, how you were feeling, and here you signed and all the best”, – Kristina remembers the details of the terrible morning.
The woman understands that no one will bring her father back to life, but she would like the Šiauliai hospital staff to learn how to deliver the painful news, how to return the deceased’s belongings, and how to communicate with them.
“When he was taken to Šiauliai, his father’s belongings were left in Joniškis, but the staff working there nicely put everything in different bags, and here they threw everything out of the cupboard and gave it away. I understand doctors, they work a lot and across multiple facilities, but the staff could really use some basic etiquette.
I’m a hardened enough person, I don’t need people crouching around me or wiping away tears, but the culture has to be there. Hospital workers face death every day, but loved ones are very vulnerable on the first day.
Now is the 21st century, we are talking about data protection, people’s well-being, the doctors themselves broadcast how they are attacked by all kinds of authorities, but look at how you treat the relatives of the deceased”, the interviewer shares her thoughts.
The woman wants answers
When someone dies, relatives want clarity about what happened, but Kristina is currently living in the unknown and thinks about it every day. The doctors did not tell the relatives what they were treating dad for or what they were treating him with.
Kristina compared the work of the Šiauliai hospital with the Joniškis hospital: in Joniškis, there is a set procedure – from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., relatives can call the doctor’s office and they provide all the necessary information, what tests are being performed, how the patient is feeling.
“How about talking to the doctors working in Šiauliai?” It is possible to enter the hospital only in the evening, when they are no longer there, it is not possible to call. Now I keep thinking – maybe my father could have been saved, taken to Kaunas or Vilnius clinics, because I don’t trust the Šiauliai hospital”, says the woman.
When asked about whether she will try to continue fighting and get the necessary information, the woman is silent for a minute, but answers that she does not know:
“After the funeral, I thought a lot about whether to submit a question in writing, but at the moment I feel a lot of apathy. The realization of what happened is coming. When you’re mobilizing, when you need to organize a funeral, notify your relatives, then you don’t really go deep into your inner state.
Later comes sadness and apathy, and when there are still unanswered questions… the fact that the heart stopped, but that doesn’t change the essence, maybe that heart didn’t stop? I want them to just tell me what happened, maybe the stimulator didn’t work or something else? I have no answers…”
The Šiauliai hospital provided an answer
The news portal tv3.lt contacted Šiauliai Hospital regarding the situation. The director of the hospital, Mindaugas Pauliukas, in his written response, states that the woman mentioned in the article should contact the hospital staff and they will provide her with all the necessary information.
“We make sure that the staff of the Republican Šiauliai Hospital constantly make every effort to save everyone’s life, and patients and their relatives are treated with respect. We are open to the public, so a woman who has contacted you can return to our institution at any time with any questions she may have, and she will receive a personal answer.
Pursuant to Article 2.23, Part 1 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Civil Code), the private life of a natural person is not affected, and information about a person’s private life can only be published with his consent (after the death of a person, such consent can be given by his spouse, parents or children).
Therefore, we could provide more information if the person you refer to provides a written/signed consent with proof of identity, which you can send by e-mail. by post [email protected] or deliver/send to the Document Management and Customer Service Department of the Republic Šiauliai Hospital, located at V. Kudirkos str. 99, Šiauliai. We remind you that the scope of the provided data should be clearly indicated in the consent.
In addition, we note that information about the cause of death is indicated in the death certificate, which is issued within 12 days in accordance with the “Procedure of actions performed by employees after the death of a patient” valid in the hospital. In addition, we would like to point out that the hospital staff kindly offers bags to put the belongings of a loved one only if the patient or his relatives have nothing to put the belongings of the deceased into.
In response to the part of the letter regarding other persons who were in the office, we point out that all employees know that any information related to patients is confidential, so your interlocutors should not be intimidated by the fact that there were more doctors in their shared office, should not cause surprise or frighten.
Considering all this, it can be seen that the hospital staff behaved with respect and professionalism. However, sympathizing with the relatives and understanding their pain due to the loss, we always invite you to come and talk,” says M. Pauliukas.
