"Gould or Exmoor Ward"

Whilst ours was an unusual situation as an A&E admission several hours from home. I arrived on weds under the impression that I was to take my wife who had broken her arm home. It is now Sunday and I am still here, initially the staff particularly in A&E were helpful. My wife was admitted as she was struggling with managing the pain, unfortunately the drugs she was administered with caused her to feel sick and this combined with the fact that she has not eaten has prolonged the stay. There has been very little attempt to persuade her to eat and her mental state has not allowed her to understand the importance of eating. I have done what I can to persuade her and have been kept under the impression that her discharge was imminent although looking at her that is hard to imagine. We are about 3 hours drive from home and i have been given very little feedback. This morning I came across from the on site bungalow to care how she was doing and understand what was likely to happen today. I was confronted by a receptionist and nurse who told me that I wasnt allowed access until 2pm ( I had previously not been made aware of visiting times). Whilst I appreciate the need for rules this was delivered in a very rude and confrontational manner. When I asked what the current situation was I was told there was no chance of a discharge over the weekend as the hospital was not adequately staffed.. When I pointed out that this differed from the information I had been given on Saturday the nurse said in an off hand manor that they didn't no anything as "they were only a nurse". It seemed that the nurse was perfectly happy to be rude and confrontational but would default to this statement if questioned. Do I teturn to Reading and wait to be summoned (knowing my luck probably as soon as I actually get back) or wander aimlessly around a hospital for a few days?

By and large your staff have been wonderful and I do understand probably more than you can ever imagine that this simple situation has become complicated.. A little information and politeness would go along way way to making the situation easier to manage. Your Sunday staff do this great hospital little credit.