"Having spent a long weekend (Fri-Tue) ..."

What I liked

Having spent a long weekend (Fri-Tue) in H1 ward of the RHH with not such a serious complaint. I was in a position to observe the staff at work both day and night. This was my first time in hospital and didn't know what to expect. The procedure on arrival excellent and I was swiftly seen to and afer a few hours I was tucked up in a comfy bed on ward H1. Having heard many tales about the conditions of hospitals I wondered where these complainers had been, obviously not the RHH. The bay was bright and airy with large windows. It was kept very clean by domestic staff who took their time and didn't just rush in and out, and the cordon sanitaire to prevent cross infection between the bays was stricktly adhere to.

The food was very good, not cordon bleu, but was sufficient and wholesome with a good varied menu for each meal and always arrived hot. And the 'tea lady' kept a good supply coming throughout the day.

The doctors when visiting brought you into the conversation when talking to other doctors about you

I have never seen people work as hard as the nursing staff do. They came on at the begining ot shift with a smile on their faces and left with the same smile. They were always polite and courteous and full of care for the more ill patients and they never seem to stop moving and they instilled in me a sense of security that if I were ever seriously ill I would be looked after.

I would to say thank you to all the nursing staff but especially to the two nurses who took time out of their busy work day to help me understand my condition.

Thank you to H1

What could be improved

I suppose this has been suggested before but I thought it would be a good idea to provide a wet towel with the meals. cloth or disposable, I know that there is the hand wash on each bed but this is out of reach for most patients. I found it dislikable to start eating without washing my hads. I saw patients touching and handling things and then eating a meal without washing the hands. I would have thought that supplying some form of hand towel on the tray with each meal would be most helpful and even the most bedridden patients could then have clean hands before eating their meal.

I hope I am not trying to teach granny how to suck eggs.