"Auckland Park Hospital"

Firstly, this Trust is very sorry not to have not responded sooner to your comments, although this was a posting made in 2012, it did not appear on our site until 19 February 2014 as the usual notification process from NHS Choices to the Trust that an opinion had been posted did not occur. This is a technical error that is being rectified with NHS Choices. We were extremely disappointed to read such negative comments and would like to offer reassurance that it is very important to us that patients and their families are treated with respect and dignity. The Trust is committed to providing quality services and we would have liked to investigate and respond personally to the issues you have raised. If you contact PALS staff on the freephone 0800 052 0219 they can advise on options for responding to concerns. We felt it was important to provide some reassurance regarding nursing care at Auckland Park, including some recent independent opinions about the wards. Firstly, in relation to patient and carer opinions, we now undertake surveys on wards using hand held devices. Responses are anonymous and we ask people’s views about contact with nurses, eg Are Staff Friendly? Do you feel respected by Staff? Do you feel cared for? The satisfaction responses from patients and carers in December 2013 and January 2014 scored a satisfaction rate of 100% in 2 of the questions with the third scoring 92%. In relation to cleaning, we do have high expectations regarding the cleanliness of the ward, there are cleaning staff working on the wards to maintain a good standard. In a recent Commissioner visit in January 2014 it was reported the standards of cleanliness on both wards and general attention to detail was very high. We wish to reassure that patients are not locked in their rooms, bedroom doors can be unlocked from the inside without a key. Patients have access to the courtyard garden during daylight hours as the doors are unlocked, providing the weather is not extremely severe. At an inspection in August 2013 the CQC found that patients had “unrestricted access to all communal areas of the ward and into the garden”. Patients choose what clothing to wear on the ward, however if their clothing becomes dirty during the day, possibly from food spillages, nurses do suggest a change of clothing, however there may be occasions when patients do not wish to change their clothing and it is important they have this choice. In relation to incontinence products, they are only used when a patient has an assessed need for these and there is an intervention plan in place identifying this need. We hope that by providing this response we offer some reassurance to other patients and families.