"My mum's lack of care at Weston Park"

My mother was transferred from Royal Hallamshire Hospital to Weston Park as she was deteriorating rapidly and needed to start her chemotherapy as soon as possible. The care my mother had received so far from the Royal Hallamshire was outstanding and then I think it went seriously downhill from then on when she entered Weston Park. My mother told me that whenever she asked for something she was made to feel as though she was troubling the nursing staff. This made my mother feel as though she was a hindrance and she shouldn't have asked. Her medication would also arrive late for her. The smell on the ward from another patient that was suffering with diarrhoea and a strong urine smell was so bad that it made my mother no want to eat. I think the poor lady must have been so embarrassed about the way she smelt and I feel she should have been put in a private room in order to preserve her dignity.

It all got too much for my mother and eventually she was on her mobile phone, hiding in the toilet, crying to my sister saying she had to go home because she couldn't stand it any longer. We felt that we needed to take her home because the standard of care just wasn't good enough. We were so used to the high standards at the Royal Hallamshire and we were appalled at how my mother was treated in Weston Park. It has made her feel so terrified that if she has to go back in there she will probably not be able to cope. When we phoned in the morning to check what kind of a night she had had we were told that they didn't know. They would get my mum to give us a ring on her mobile. We also were made to feel the same way that my mum had been made to feel when we approached to staff to ask them about my mum's progress etc. That we were holding them up from doing something and we were a nuisance.

I find this treatment atrocious and I believe something needs to be done about it. I think staff need to remember where they are working, a hospital for cancer patients where people are vulnerable, frightened, in pain and needing answers. I don’t think it’s too much to ask that staff try and be patient, caring and treat the patients as if it was someone that they love dearly. After all I’m sure they wouldn’t want their mum treated like this. I just feel disgusted that we have to bring our mother home so that she gets her medication on time and is well cared for. The doctors that my mother is under are fantastic but unfortunately it isn't the doctors that take care of the patient on a day to day basis.