"Very little. The nicest people ..."

What I liked

Very little. The nicest people were the catering and cleaning staff.

What could be improved

Everything. In particular pain relief. If pain relief is given on time, people will forgive the undoubtedly busy nurses if they have to wait for some other things. Many times I waited hours in agony. I was starved on a number of days in preparation for a scan which did not take place. On the last day I was starved, I was dehydrated and even more ill because of the lack of food and water. I asked the person doing the scan about this and was told that the ward start starving patients when they request a scan rather than when a booking is made and this means patients often starve unncessarily as I had done.

Doctors and students turn up in hoardes. They are more interested in talking amongst themselves than talking to the patient. I was sent home still in considerable pain despite only one investigation being carried out and this was a repeat of the latest investigation already done. When this showed nothing, they were unwilling to look at anything else as a cause for the severe pain. The food was appalling and the system used meant there was very little choice - difficult when trying to manage lactose intolerance. They moved people seemingly on a whim and frequently late or even in the middle of the night. An 83 year old lady 2 days post-operative was moved at 11:30 one night. Another lady who was going home the next day was moved at 2 in the morning (how is this cost/time effective?). At one point I was moved to a ward which was 'divided' for male and female. The division was ineffective and I was subjected to a view of things I would much rather not have seen on more than one occasion. The man on the other side of this division was very ill but because he was so far away from the nurses desk was left more or less to fend for himself overnight. He was still not checked on when I told them at 4:15 am that it sounded like he was suffering considerably. At 6 am when they went to check BP's they also then had to get mops. This is just the worst stuff!

Anything else?

Not enough staff. Not enough consideration given to pastoral care. While I was talking to one patient (not in the way of any treatment or work) I was told "If you would go back to your bed". In fact at that time, because of the weather I had not had a visitor for over 24 hours so needed to talk to people as I was in pain and frightened. Patients have to deal with pastoral care among themselves. If you prove not to be a nice straighforward case the doctors lose interest rapidly rather than seeking alternative answers. Friday is clear out day when it is glaringly obvious that they are trying to get rid of every person possible - ready or not. Money is wasted hand over fist and often at the expense of the patients well being. Everything done seems to be tailored to best suit the doctors and staff rather than the patient also to ensure beds and numbers are recorded in the best possible light. One night I was left crying in agony. I was in the day room and during an hour of this I heard many members of staff walk past ignoring the noise of somebody sobbing. Luckily, two nurses from a different ward went past and came to comfort me. It was them who said this cannot continue and they went to have a word with staff from the ward I was on, made me a cup of tea and talked to me to allay some of my fears.

It is beyond my comprehension that any human being can walk past another who is obviously in agony and do nothing - not even offer a couple of words of comfort. But that is exactly what staff there do. They sent me out too early so I ended up in A & E 36 hours later, then another 36 hours later and was then admitted to a different hospital. This circle of agony and unnecessary suffering and expense will continue until someone has the nous to keep me there and get to the root of the problem which hasn't happened to date.