"Gissing Ward"

Anything else?

Have just spent 2 nights on the Gissing Ward which was pretty unpleasant. The ward has same sex rooms. I was in a room of women only. My stay was made unpleasant by a male patient in the next door room who was allowed to leave his tv on without plugging in the headphones, thereby causing disturbance to others such as myself who did not wish to hear it. He was also allowed to speak and shout very loudly at night way beyond 10 p.m. making it implossible to sleep. Lights in my room stayed on until very late without even being dimmed which also made it hard to sleep. Staff seemed to make no effort to be quiet when moving around. Generally the nursing staff were caring, but requests were often met with 'in a minute' then forgotten about. It seems there was always someone or something else more important. The consultants were informative and helpful. One woman on the catering staff was very rude and unfriendly despite the fact that I had not witnessed anyone in my room being rude to her. When a patient accidentally spilt her tea on her side table she simply handed her a handful of paper towels so the patient could clear up the mess herself which she struggled to do with her feet! The ward nurse seemed unware of the disturbance and discontent the male patient was causing patients such as myself and 2 other patients in my ward.