"Ward 11 SAU"

I was admitted to Ward 11 with acute pancreatitis. I was progressed after a day from the admission area to the end-bay: all male. I stayed for about 8 days. Throughout my stay, I was impressed by the evident dedication, professionalism and by the caring nature of the staff, not only to me but to all the other patients around me. I was treated with the utmost care and respect and I saw tremendous kindness to others, regardless of their condition, age and, sometimes, of their state of mind. The ward was spotless except, occasionally, the toilets which are used by sometimes very poorly and elderly patients. Please replace the blue coloured toilet seat - looks lovely but it's better to know if it is clean - use white!! Shifts seemed to operate with seamless precision so far as my own care was concerned. Overall, I am extremely grateful that the NHS was there for me when I needed it last week. Hospital stays are rarely pleasant, but all of the staff, including the wonderful catering ladies with their regular tea trolley, made the experience as good as it could be. On the down side, given that a good night's sleep is fundamental to recovery, I feel that the alternative design use of the ward, as an interrogation/sleep deprivation cell was a little too evident. In particular, the central fluorescent lights are inevitably in direct line of sight to anyone sleeping on their back. At night these lights were switched over to equally eyelid-piercing bright small lights in the same fittings. Could these not be switched off or dimmed at night? Alternatively, could you offer eye-masks and ear-plugs routinely? Similarly, the drip and other monitoring machines seemed to be excessively loud when they inevitably ran out of fluid or simply felt neglected. Perhaps some alternative 'quiet' signalling system could be used - e.g. radio alerts to the nurse's station. Having said that, the nurses were very quiet, efficient and considerate dealing with night-time events including patients falling out of bed, late night operations and other bed moves. Hospital life I suppose - but glad to get home for a decent night's sleep!