"Privacy and confidentiality"

During the night an elderly woman was transferred to the bed next to my daughter. I'll avoid any details that may allow identification but the lady was obviously distressed and in a lot of pain. The team of nurses were trying to move her to bathe her and ultimately make her comfortable. I could hear everything and it was very obvious that one nurse was frustrated and judgemental about the lady's circumstances and physical condition. The nurse was sharp and obviously angry when the lady couldn't move as required due to being in pain. I found myself in tears listening to the way this elderly patient was spoken to by this individual. The rest of the team were obviously finding things stressful and difficult but restrained themselves from being openly irritated and continued to speak in a caring and supportive manner towards the patient.

There is a sign on the door of Ward 4 that emphasizes that patient privacy and confidentiality are paramount. This is sadly impossible in the ward, but staff should perhaps be made aware that they are audible to others in the room. I knew more about most of the patients than I wanted to know. Much of this is avoidable with some sensitivity.

I brought this up with a nurse as I was angry and upset that my teenage daughter had to discuss some very sensitive issues in a full ward with only a paper curtain to protect her. She was fully ambulatory and could have walked to a quiet space. I was shown to a quiet room but perhaps it would have been more sensible to leave me on the ward and take my daughter somewhere quieter.

One final point.

Covid is still causing illness and the ongoing health implications are only beginning to be understood. I thought the medical and scientific communities agreed on this. I wore a mask for almost the entire 36 hours on the ward, only removing it to eat and drink.

Patients were allowed to take their masks off, even a gentleman who had a Covid test performed on the ward. I can't fathom the scientific or medical sense in this, although I understand the preference to offer some comfort to patients and I also could recognize the difficulty in ensuring some patients wore them.

Most staff wore masks all the time but there was a noticeable number of  staff wearing masks under their chin or nose. Where is the sense in this?