"The nursing staff and quality ..."

What I liked

The nursing staff and quality of nursing care was excellent

What could be improved

My close friend who suffers from severe and disabling Rheumatoid Arthritis was recently admitted for a suspected bowel blockage to be investigated. After almost two weeks a scan was carried out, followed by a sigmoidoscopy another week further along the line. A biopsy was taken and she was sent home with the promise of an outpatient appointment. Needless to say, she is worse now than before she was admitted and is being sent to another hospital for further tests. She was starved for 24 hours before the first sigmoid, only to be told at 5.oopm on the appointed day that they were too busy to do it. She then had to be starved again before the second attempt. We have since learned that the staff had an early finish on the date of the first procedure - one was overheard to say it was good to finish at 4.00pm!! A hospital run for the convenience of the staff and not patients. I cannot understand how it took so long for the initial tests to be carried out, especially bearing in mind that the patient is a very sick woman. Having decided there was no blockage, you did not attempt to ascertain what the real problem was, but sent her home after a biopsy. I just cannot believe it