"My observations as a patient for ..."

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My observations as a patient for two and a half weeks on Reedyford Ward, Pendle Community Hospital, Nov / Dec 2009

Doctors / Consultants – excellent. Night Staff – excellent.

Occupational Therapists – excellent. Physio – good but spasmodic.

Cleanliness – very good.

Food – nutritional value moderate and lacking sufficient fibre. Choice of meals monotonous. Also, delivery turned up with incorrect orders without the choice of fresh fruit.

Daily newspapers and magazines – no service available. This can lead to patients feeling bored and isolated from current events, especially when far from home and receiving few visitors.

Nurses – caring and hard-working, but due to all their differing tasks, the time for patient care is limited.

The staff’s knowledge and experience of working with those of physical difficulties is essentially beneficial to their recovery. The staff’s advice was invaluable to me.

Patients’ care – A minimum of help with feeding, toilets, transfers from bed to chair and vice versa, plus slow response to call buzzers, leads to patients’ frustration, sometimes resulting in accidents when the patient attempts actions that are beyond their capabilities.

Provision of food and medication – This differs greatly from day to day. For example, one day breakfast was served at 8.15am in the dining room, another at 10.30am on the ward. Having last eaten at 5.30pm the previous day, the gap was too long and as lunch was served at 12.30pm that day, not much was eaten due to patients not feeling hungry. Regular meals and medication times are necessary to aid recovery, especially those with diabetes etc.

Much improvement could be gained by strict organisation, prioritising essential tasks, and adopting regular provision times for food and medication.