"Elderly patients left without pillows"

I was in two units at the University Hospital of Wales. I was there with my husband who had been taken in as an emergency.

I watched an older person left on a bed with his clothes on but with no blanket or pillow. I could see him shivering and seemed rather confused.

When I felt confident to leave my husband for a minute I looked for and eventually found a nurse. I asked for a blanket. The nurse did respond and gave the man a blanket - but he was still left without a pillow.

I then had to find another nurse and ask for a pillow. The nurse told me that they were like gold dust there and that she would have trouble finding one and she didn't.

The same thing happened on another ward when we were moved up from the assessment ward. This was another older person without any pillows and this was a permanent ward - not an assessment unit.

No one on the ward seemed to notice that this patient was without a pillow and I saw the patient was seen by various people including doctors.

I reported this to the Older People Commissioner the same day and gave the names of the two wards.