"Visit to sick patient"

Whilst visiting a sick relative on Ward D3 Spinal Unit, I was deeply disturbed by her experience on this ward.

Half an hour before we arrived, she was experiencing severe stomach cramps and, as she is bedbound, asked for a bedpan.

She was advised by the member of staff that they were too busy and it was a further half an hour after we arrived before she was provided with a bedpan.

I then went outside the ward and witnessed an elderly, very infirm, male patient calling for help to go to the toilet. He said he had been pressing his buzzer for some time but no one came. I helped him to the toilet and then made sure he was okay to get back to his bed.

I then returned to my relative who became increasingly distressed when recounting the treatment she had received in the previous days, including one occasion when her buzzer had been left out of reach and she spent an hour and a half calling for someone to bring her a bedpan as she was desperate for a wee.

Having waited so long, the bedpan nearly overflowed and she was scolded by a nurse for getting urine on her nightdress.

Despite having suffered ill health for nearly 50 years, my relative is the most courageous and dignified person I know and never complains.

I am totally shocked by the level of care she has received from staff at Stepping Hill on this occasion.

She admitted herself that she has never experienced such poor care and whilst we all know the pressures on the NHS, this is completely unacceptable.