"Over half the nurses I encountered were not patient friendly"

After 10 days of waiting to be transferred to the UCLH and after several excuses and being told I was already in bed 23, I arrived on T8 South.

The first words spoken to me by any member of staff was a nurse who said they should have gone home twenty minutes ago. I informed the nurse that I need an Heated Humidifier for the oxygen. They said they don’t do it at this hospital.

Having previously been admitted to four other varying sized hospitals I did not accept their answer. After explaining how important this equipment is to me she said they'd have to send out to another hospital for it. I advised the nurse to make enquiries with ITU has they are used in that department.

Four hours later a specialist nurse arrived with the unit from stores. That was the first time my name had been used. I was on ward T8 for seven days. During this time, sadly I found over half the nurses I encountered on the ward were not patient friendly.

I need cooled boiled water daily. On only two occasions I got it, and one of those I had to advise staff where to get it from. On a positive note there were several nurses I met who were exceptionally patient friendly.

I was to return to the UCLH a month later. I asked my consultants if I could go on another ward after my experience on T8 South. The only bed available on my surgery date was T8 South. However there was mostly different nurses working during my stay and the ones that I had seen before were the good nurses.