"Rheumatology and dermatology staff were..."

What I liked

Rheumatology and dermatology staff were absolute stars. Night shift were very caring and went out of their way to help me and my family. A lot of the day shift staff went out of their way to help me also the best they could out of a situation that was out of their control.

What could be improved

There were no working showers in Triscombe or the adjoining ward and I was told these had been out of action for five days previous to my arrival and stayed out of action for the duration of my stay (five days) . I forgot my own towel (my fault admittedly) and was given a pillow case to dry myself as the ward had no towels either. I believe some of the heads of the ward are partially responsible for this and more could have been done to help me out. I am concerned about infection control as water from one of the showers I used flooded all over the floor as the drain was blocked. I also had open wounds that needed to stay clean and found the cleanliness of the bathrooms to be of a low standard.

Anything else?

On my final day I had an appointment with dermatology to perform a minor procedure. I asked several times for a shower like I had every day of my stay (most days waiting 5 hours for an available shower) and was told no way was I getting shower today and to use a bowl of water. If I didn't want that then it was tough I wasn't washing that day. Regrettably because of this attitude i was forced to make the decision to self discharge feeling that I had let down those who wanted to help me. By the time I had got home, blood from my open wounds that I wanted to clean properly before my procedure had soaked through my jeans which is highly embarrassing for me.

Again I would like to reiterate that some staff were extremely helpful but were unable to help me due to circumstances out of their control.