"Inconsistency of experience between critical care and general ward"

I was admitted to the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital in November last year. I had an operation to remove cancer of the oesophagus, then had complications, pneumonia being one of them for which I had another operation to remove fluid from around the lungs. I spent 2 months in Critical Care and the care I received was second to none.

Then after 2 months, I was moved onto a General Ward and quickly realised that it was worlds apart from the Critical Care Unit. The staff were overworked and in my opinion didn't have time to carry out their duties as nurses.

If you pressed the nurse call button, someone would turn up eventually no matter how urgent your call was. I believe my dressings were not changed as regularly as they should have been. My air mattress collapsed and it took days for the mattress to be replaced even though I was laying on the bed frame.

It seemed that the more I complained the longer it took. Nurses can no longer be nurses. They have too much paperwork to do and I do wonder if this is being filled in correctly sometimes because I witnesses one case where a nurse was asked to fill in incorrect details on a patients "obs" because she didn't get round to doing them due to her workload. She refused to do this. I could carry on but enough said.

Thanks to the team who carried out my operation and the team in critical care. The stay there was pleasant enough. The other month I would rather forget.