"The professionalism of the staff ..."

What I liked

The professionalism of the staff in accident and emergency. When i say that we were visitors it was in fact our 10 yr old son who was dealt with in a kind and effective manner. He hd to have a venflon sited and bloods taken. The A and E Doctor was fantastic. The receptionist who booked him in were exceptional. They immediately recognised that my son was acutely ill and could potentialy be worse and directed us to see a dr. I can't praise Accident and Emergency enough. Other relatives have also been there in the last 6 months and on each occassion my experience was the same. Our son was later admitted to ward 3 childrens ward. Dr V Gray was wonderful on ward three and so was the Dr who asssessed him in A and E. She took the time , patience and understanding to explain everything to us the parents and our son.

What could be improved

Hand washing by the nurses on ward 3.I observed very little hand hygiene being carried out by staff. Toys were not cleaned . Nurses went from patient to patient without using hand gel. HCA'S cleaned cots and beds without using gel in between. This concerned me. However Drs did wash and gel their hands. Better communication between the nursing staff on ward 3. I observed trained nurses not knowing what had happened the previous shift and again and again asking parents the same questions.

Anything else?

Despite lack of hand washing, I parise the staff and am pleased to be local to ROH.However, I wonder if wards should adopt or already carry out weekly hand hygiene audits. This would highlight if staff carry out hand hygiene before and after low and high risk proceedures. Staff of all grades should perform the audit which in turn would make all staff aware and hopefully reduce hospital acquired infections. Thanks to everyone.