"Experience on Hascombe Ward"

Anything else?

My daughter was admitted to Hascombe Ward on Sunday 27th October. She had been having breathing difficulties at home. I had called 111, she had been nebulized at home and an ambulance had been called by the attending paramedic. We went to A&E and had a reasonably long wait of about 3 hours before she went for a chest x-ray and was then sent up to the ward. Two of Hascombe Wards staff were sent down to A&E to collect us and they were very friendly and cheerful. We then got to the ward and were seen by one of the doctors, who discussed the issues with my daughter's x-ray and examined her. She told us what was going on the entire time and the two members of staff who had come to get us from A&E were on hand to answer questions and make sure we were ok. Another doctor, I think the SHO or Registrar, then examined my daughter, discussed her treatment with myself and the doctor admitted her. We were shown to a bay which was very clean and didn't have any other patients in at the time but decided to take an amenity room. We were shown to the room and the nurses came and introduced themselves and took some obs. We were constantly told what was being done and why and made aware of the possible courses of treatment. The possibility of an NG tube was suggested as a last resort and when the nurses came to do this they were calm and sensitive to my distress and I left my daughter, with my mum, to have the tube put in. Overnight my daughter was given 2 hrly feeds and oxygen, all of which was explained to me. The night nurse was excellent and after my initial anxiety that my daughter would not be feed on time, or at all, my experience at the RSCH with one of my other children, I felt complete trust in her. The next day and the next shift again were friendly and introduced themselves, and discussed her care. I was kept informed of the rounds and consultant. The consultant was friendly, discussed how she was doing and discharged her with 24 hr open access. The nurse kept us informed and made sure we had our discharge notes and meds. All in all I cannot say how impressed I was with the ward. From the cleanliness and new kitchen with milk, tea and coffee, to the treatment and staff, inc the cleaners. All of the staff bar none were exemplary and I felt part of my daughter's care the whole time. Communication between shifts was excellent and the staff were all well informed. I have had a couple of hideous experiences on Hascomb ward and made several complaints about the treatment of my other children but the ward is unrecognisable to my previous experience. Well done Hascombe Ward! I can't say I look forward to returning but feel reassured that should I have to it will be a wholly different experience to my previous encounters. Thank you all, you do a fabulous job in a stressful environment and may not always get the thanks you all deserve. Kind Regards