"My father's treatment for multiple health problems"

My father has multiple health problems; irregular heart beat caused by a malfunctioning valve, colostomy, diabetes, gout, and one month ago was diagnosed with renal failure when admitted to Trafford General Hospital after a fall. In November his heart beat and breathing became very low and they told me they wanted to transfer him to the renal unit at Hope Hospital (Salford General). However there was no bed available and instead he was transferred to the High Dependency Unit (HDU) at Trafford. All the while he was there (6 days) he was closely monitored by at least one nurse, and I got regular updates from the duty nurse and also from the duty doctor. Access to the HDU was controlled by buzzer on the door so they could monitor who was there. Hand cleaning stations were at regular intervals on the access corridor and on the ward with the request to clean your hands before you went in. It was also mandatory to put on a disposable apron before seeing the patient.

During this period the staff told me that they were reporting back to Hope Hospital and hoped to transfer him there ASAP. On the sixth day he was sufficiently recovered to be transferred to coronary care where he was continued to be monitored and access was restricted. I was happy with the care he was receiving. As this hospital was local to his address he also had a regular procession of visitors (who mainly lived locally). Both he and myself informed the hospital that we were happy with the level of care and we did not want him to be moved to Hope as it would be much more difficult for his visitors to get there.

However, I got a phone call to say that he was being moved to Hope Hospital as they finally had a bed for him. Due to the traffic conditions caused by a Manchester United home match. I was unable to visit him that evening and it was not until the following evening I managed to get there. The visitors car park was at the opposite end of the hospital to his ward so I parked closer on an empty taxi rank and gained a parking ticket for my trouble. Due to building work I could not see to walk round to the nearest entrance to his ward so walked through part of the hospital. I found the signs difficult to follow and had to ask the way a few times. When I eventually got to his ward there was no control on the door and I had to walk down what was virtually an open ward (apart from curtains) to get to the nurses station.

In my opinion the beds looked much too close together and afforded very little privacy to the patients both from each other and passing visitors. I couldn’t see any obvious hand cleaning stations either. When I got to the nurses station I asked where my father was and was pointed to his room. During my visit no nursing staff came into his room and when I left the nurse on the desk was on the phone. She paused her conversation while I asked her if I could visit after normal visiting hours the following day.

However, when I went the following evening I could find no alternative place to park save the visitors car park. As it was late and dark and the car park was across the road to the hospital I did not feel safe parking there by myself and returned home without seeing my father. Since then I have managed to see him a further two times getting one of my sons to accompany me each time. During all my visits there I have had no specific feed back from the staff at all about his condition. If fact last night when I visited he was asleep and I looked at his records at the end of his bed to update myself and found out that he was infected with MRSA. No one from the hospital has yet informed me about this or how it will affect his recovery. When I compare the high standard of conditions of care at Trafford General to what I feel is a much lower standard I encountered at Hope Hospital, I consider his transfer there to be a retrograde step.