Wait they took a guy with a prosthetic valve replacement off anticoagulation? How bad was the bleeding? Which valve was replaced? This is kind of concerning since mechanical valves need anticoagulation or else they clot and cause  you guessed it, stroke.Were they giving the enoxaparin and aspirin in the hospital??Obviously hindsight is 20/20 and perhaps it wouldnt have changed anything, but it seems like an oversight that no one ordered even a CT.
Were my father's doctors negligent?My father was in hospital being treated for a suspicious catheter bleed and a UTI. As part of this the urologists had stopped all his anticoagulation/antiplatelet medication and presumably because of this he suffered a large ischaemic stroke. He was admitted on a Tuesday and I first noticed the stroke symptoms on the Thursday evening when I attempted to call my father on his mobile phone and when I finally managed to talk to him he had severe aphasia and cognitive decline. I immediately called the ward he was on and told the nurse that this was a very sudden and severe change in my father's condition (my sister had been to visit him that afternoon and he'd been absolutely fine - I had spoken to him earlier too and he was fine then) and the nurse said she would call for a doctor to review him overnight and he'd also be seen by his regular urology doctors in the morning and they would better understand the changes in him. I called the hospital a further two times that evening expressing my concerns about him and that I was concerned he might have had a stroke.On the Friday morning I call him and obviously he was still struggling to speak and still sounding very confused but he was however able to follow along with a conversation. I call the ward and the doctor has bumped my father up to IV antibiotics and fluids. I'm told later in the day that he was sleeping for most of the afternoon and didn't eat much through the day.Then Saturday morning my older sister spoke to the nurse looking after my father again expressing how concerned we are about this major change in him and we're told she will get the on call registrar to come and review him again. Later I am told he's being given stronger antibiotics. Saturday evening my father seems to be improving and is once again eating normally, also able to speak a little better.Sunday morning when I call the ward I am told by the nurse that my father isn't very good and he has been sent for a CT scan because he was really messed up that morning, exceptionally confused, unable to swallow and his aphasia has gotten worse. I called back a while later and spoke to a registrar who confirmed that the scan shows that my father has likely had a stroke. That afternoon he was moved to a specialist stroke ward.Over the last few weeks I've spoken regularly with the doctors on the stroke ward and they seem pretty mortified that it took 3 days for anyone to think to order a CT to check for a stroke. It seems obvious to my sister and I that when we have kicked up a fuss and he's been seen by a doctor they have just assumed that it was delirium brought on by the UTI but according to his notes no one had considered any alternatives. So I'd like to ask, would you consider this negligence?Relevant info81MUKWhite British79Kg5'11"Non smoker, no drugs or alcoholHistory - Alzheimer's, type 2 diabetes, metallic valve replacement and double bypass in 2011, diagnosed with kidney stone in late 2021, left side PCNL at beginning of February and recatheterised after a failed TWOC a few days after surgeryMeds - enoxaparin sodium 80mg twice a day, aspirin 75mg once a day, metformin 500mg two twice a day, gliclazide 80mg two twice a day, oxybutynin 2.5mg twice a day, linagliptin 5mg once a day, tamsulosin 400 micrograms once a day, donepezil hydrochloride 5mg once a day, colcalciferol 1,000 units once a day, bisoprolol 1.25mg once a day, atorvastatin 40mg once a day