NHS Complaints, Anyone been through it?Several Issues with Dads care

Hello
I'm looking for some advice and if anyone has any experience in complaining to the NHS and whether it is worthwhile.
If I go through my situation with you, I feel the standard of care was dreadful, so many things were missed or not bothered with and ultimately I feel it led to a quicker deterioration in my Dad.

I apologise in advance for the length of this but I feel it will help me to type all the frustrations out and if you have the time to read over them and pass an opinion. I would be very grateful.

My Dad wasn't a well man (I knew this) he had several problems - severe kidney disease, a heart problem, peripheral vascular disease and type 2 diabetes. I'm certainly not looking for excuses for him passing (he passed peacefully last week at home) but I believe the standard of care was poor, I'll outline some of the instances below.

1. My Dad seemed to be put in a general ward, people with all sorts of different reasons and it proved as they did not have a sufficient grasp of his health problems and his needs and requirements. He had previously been in a specialist renal ward in a different hospital and everything was dealt with immediately and promptly. (I later found out it was a general ward which specialises in diabetes). Making some of the errors seem even more strange.

2. My Dad came into hospital due to fluid in his legs and lungs being the primary reasons, but he had several other little things needing to be kept on top of....
He has a cut on top of his middle finger, it was small but it had gone black. He was in agony with it. He complained to the nurses constantly, they dismissed it, as did the Dr, as did I and he was told to put a plaster on it. After 3 weeks the blackness was nearly a quarter of the way down his finger and his other finger tips were turning blue. He was finally sent for an x-ray on the third week and then told it would need amputated but there was no point in doing this now (mainly because he had been told he only had weeks/months to live by this point).

Surely a man with peripheral vascular disease, type 2 diabetes and who nearly got his toes amputated 2 years previously in the same hospital should have been a red flag with a finger like this?

2. My Dad had several very bad cuts on his legs and an ulcer on the back of one. They were looked at once. I was told they did not have big enough plasters, I had to bring them in and was changing them regularly for him. Eventually after 3 weeks the cuts were finally looked at when he had an infection and swabs were taken. - Should these not have been checked when he first came in?

3.Due to my Dads kidney disease his back was terribly itchy constantly. He was prescribed a special cream for this. The ward did not have it, I had to go and buy it until they eventually ordered it in. The itch combined with a general agitation coupled with regular anxiety attacks which I believe led to a deterioration in my Dad's mental health the longer he was in the hospital. I spoke to nurses several times in the first 2 weeks about the anxiety attacks but the drs would not give him anything for them. He was so distressed, calling me non stop. They eventually gave him something after 3 weeks.

4.My Dad was due an injection every 2 weeks for his kidneys. They were delivered to our house. The ward did not know about these injections. I brought 2 of them to the hospital and they lost them.

5.Lack of Communication - In the first 2 weeks I had no contact with any Dr's and had to rely on nurses. I was later told by his consultant that this could of been down to a misunderstanding with his Junior Dr's. I feel like my Dad was seeing different Dr's everyday unlike when he was in a Renal ward and seen the same consultant.

My Dads renal consultant from a different hospital had known him for 2 years. I called to ask if she knew he had been in hospital or had been contacted, she said she had no idea. There was no communication with her a tall for any background information which may have been helpful.

Whether his medical treatment was wrong I'm unsure I think it's more the care side of things but I do feel had he been in a renal ward with contact with his regular consultant things may have been controlled better and he may have had a bit longer. Things deteriorated so quickly.

6. Nasty cuts to groin area - Upon leaving hospital and going home the district nurses discovered nasty red painful cuts on either side of his groin. I had been doing the personal care for my Dad in hospital up until his final few days and had not noticed the cuts. They had been left untreated he must have been in agony with it.

7.Thrush in mouth - From day one my Dad complained about lack of taste in his mouth, something he had experienced for a few weeks prior to going into hospital. A day after leaving his GP came to the house and diagnosed thrush immediately saying it was very obvious. I can't say for sure he had this in hospital but it seems it was ignored.

Again maybe this isn't medical negligence but the lack of care for me is glaringly obvious and I feel everything from thrush to the horrible finger to the cuts on his legs to the anxiety attacks and itch led to a general discomfort for my Dad and a deterioration in his mental state and health.

I called the patient services line and filed a complaint they noted it down. His consultant from this hospital called me a week later (I think to try and stop the complaint). He covered a few of the points ..
1. - Lack of Comm - a misunderstanding with his Junior Dr's
2 - Lack of Comm with Dads Renal Consultant - he said he had over 2000 patients and if he contacted every one of their consultants he would not have time.
3 - General Care/Cuts Etc - Said nurses do not always know everything and only have a general brief of Dads issues. Said it is upto to patient to mention problems. (Which he certainly did!)
4 - The finger (said whoever said it needed amputated should not have said that) but did not comment on why it was left to fester away for 3 weeks with just a plaster?

I feel like I should be putting a complaint in writing. Any views on this would be most welcome, do you think I have a point and where can I go with this.

Thankyou