"Nothing"

What I liked

Nothing

What could be improved

My father is currently being treated as an inpatient on the oncology ward (William Budd Unit). None of the staff seem to know what is going on with his care, it is nearly impossible to speak to a doctor about his case either - my mother just waited two hours to speak to the doctor, only to be told that he/she was too busy - and as a clinical pharmacist I am concerned about some of the medication that has been prescribed but these concerns are being ignored.

Anything else?

I feel that deficiencies in palliative care have been caused by chronic underfunding over the past 12 years as the NHS strives to hit centrally-imposed targets. As palliative care is an area where it is difficult to set targets and patients don't have nice and predictable illness, it seems to get overlooked and has to struggle on with inadequate funding. These patients are dying, and despite all the rhetoric spouted by the Department of Health about end-of-life care, they are not receiving the care needed to make sure they can live out their last days with the dignity they deserve.