"9 months of HELL"

I was in the ICU ward in redburn the majority of my time there. There is a mix of both very lovely staff and horrible inconsiderate ones who just like to argue. The domestics are lovely but just rubbish at their job, the place was hardly ever clean. Crumbs, hair, food bits of general crap every where even blood. The food is of hospital standard, I remember a couple of times which was funny, they forgot to order tea so everyone had toast haha, it's disgusting really. They always run out of food, they don't have biscuits or anything you have to bring in things like butter and snacks because they hardly provide anything apart from cereal bars and mouldy fruit. Fish and chips on a Friday which are okay. You are allowed to order from takeaways until about 9:00pm. You can most always locate staff sat on their behind in the office/ off the ward/ or on someone else's eyesight observations. Depending on your level of obs you're always left alone with other peers with the occasional unfamiliar agency staff to check upon you. The ICU and open ward are now separate, so consistency should be a bit better, whereas when they were together it was all messed up. There is a CTM (clinical team meeting) every Wednesday where the team sit down to briefly discuss and review all patients in terms of their wellbeing, their meds, their observations, leave, plans of discharge etc. Patients get feedback about 8 hours later which is bad. Like I said though some staff are genuinely so lovely. You can tell from a mile off who actually cares abou You and the ones who are simply going through the motions. Patients aren't involved in their care that much, however they are all appointed an independent advocate to speak on their behalf if there is an issue with the care you are receiving. They are so nice and they get things done for you, I highly recommend them. It is a newly built hospital so it looks very modern and presentable. The bedrooms do look a bit clinical however, and the plastic mattresses stick to you and make you sweat. It is technically a non smoking zone this is to help people stop, but once you get section 17 leave ask for 'nature walks' or 'fresh air breaks' this is basically just a sneaky way of saying let me out for a cig for 15minutes usually, and they let you. Lighters are banned and are not allowed on your person however they keep them in the office and depending on your situation staff may give you one and let you out to smoke. The activities hardly ever happen, there is a so called 'timetable' that people are meant to follow but they never do. All patients generally do is sit around watch tv, play jigsaws, and sleep. The summer timetable and when school is out is a bit more exciting, with more intriguing activities which people are more likely to get up and go do for example spray painting art, BBQ, henna