"A lack of care on the wards on a Sunday morning"

Last year I had gynae surgery in Worthing Hospital. It was at a time when some operations were being done on Saturdays to allow surgeons to catch up and thus reduce the waiting lists.

My surgeon was excellent and my immediate post-op care very good. I stayed in hospital just one night. However I was quite concerned about the general lack of attention first thing on the Sunday morning. I was able to get out of bed with my catheter and walk out to the nursing station, but one lady who'd had a hysterectomy was waiting for someone to give her the ok to get up and moving.

At the nursing station, several staff were just standing around chatting, laughing and looking at newspapers. This does seem to be a general complaint, that unless there is a specific job to be done, some staff do not feel it necessary to look in at the patients to see if anyone needs any help or advice. I'm sure this doesn't apply to all nursing staff, but now the nursing stations are not actually in the wards, the staff cannot be seen.