"Poor care and support"

Given limited words I have restricted this to bullet points of the issues and concerns we were told about and witnessed whilst a relative stayed in Royal Alexandria Hospital Paisley Ward 14 Below happened over a couple of recent stays.

- my relative having to wait more than 15 - 30 minutes for a patient buzzer to be answered when they needed a commode - CSWs & Nurses chatting and then time to get commode. Also told you have a pad. How do they know what the patient required when they said pad and they hadn’t been asked

- in line with the above having to lay and rest in a soiled pad / bed sheets and CSWs not changing the bed daily.

Above illustrates a total lack of dignity towards the patient.

- relative medically fit to move about ward and not offered a shower after 5 days on the ward. When we asked this happened the same day but why the CSWs / Nurses not giving basic care to patients on this ward

- whilst visiting we witnessed a domestic on the ward chatting on her phone via her earbuds. Is this allowed as I thought not?

- additionally we witnessed unsafe practises from a domestic undertaking a curtain change. Using a visitors chair and leaning over a patient bedspace at an extreme angle whilst the patient was laying in bed. They could have easily toppled, landed / injured the patient.

- an incident occurred to our relative whereby a nurse did not realise how unwell our relative was and tried to move them causing them extreme pain and distress. Our relative was screaming out in pain and when chatting to them they described it like being handled very roughly. We were informed of this by another patient as our relative was calling out for us. Were we going to informed about this? Upon arrival we asked for the SCN and whilst they said the nurse had been removed from the ward what is to stop this nurse visiting another ward and causing the same distress. Whilst the SCN apologised their demeanour left us unimpressed and left us with the impression that this was been brushed under the carpet!

- food : why is there insufficient to go around. Our relative was in the last room to be served everyday which left extremely limited choices and on some days it was take it or leave it. Why does this hospital/ward not have patients pre order food, it works in other hospitals and health boards.

- our relative was in and out hospital frequently and I called the ward to get an update to which was received from the nurses. However, when enquiring about baseline my requests to chat to Physios/OTs calls were not returned and as a family we had voiced concerns about their home situation and care packages.

- the last admission, unfortunately our relative lay dying in a side room and the toilet was foul smelling and had excrement coming from the shower tray, the tray was full (Ward AMU 2). They passed away in this room.

- death certificate: chatting with the doctor/consultant they stated it was hospital acquired pneumonia that contributed to their death however on the death certificate it was listed as community acquired pneumonia. Whilst it doesn’t change things, they couldn’t even get the death certificate correct.

- our relative was frequent visitor to RAH and on more than one occasion they stated as they would rather die in the house and not go there again!

Having said that we wish to say and thank one nurse for all their support and care to our relatives stay at ward 14. They could not do enough and they are a shining example to the nursing profession.

More than happy to discuss further.