"Ward 6B- The domestic cleaning services..."

What I liked

Ward 6B- The domestic cleaning services were very good, the domestic staff were generally good. The ward was spacious, very clean and not cluttered. The head consultant in my case was courteous and took time to deal with me on an equal basis in my care.

What could be improved

On admission - I was judged to be in need of quite serious attention yet it took from 7pm until 1.30am before I was seen by a doctor. In that time I was put in a bed with no checks at all, I could have been developing complications and no-one would have known!

The communication was terrible, the co-ordination of care, mealtimes and drug rounds were often awful, often 1 hour late or more. One member of staff actually lied to others about whether I'd received a certain vital medication on time (I hadn't - it was almost 2 hours late) which could have had a serious overdosage effect if I'd not spoken up. On another occasion I was missed completely twice in a row which then necessitated another day in hospital to 'catch up' on my treatment.

I had to receive a diagnostic scan whilst an inpatient, I was left undressed and unattended on my own in the scan room for 20 minutes before a perfunctory and hasty scan took place.

Other patients received little information about their procedure. I was given seriously incorrect advice re. my medication to take home. One bedridden patient in my ward received no help to feed herself over 3 days despite desperately needing it.

Staffing levels are too low, with only 3 staff members on a night shift.

There seemed to be an enormous amount of faffing about on the ward, with little real progress. There were just too many mistakes taking place.

Anything else?

Stop spending money on interior decor and actually increase staffing levels on wards, and doctors in A&E. Your reliance on junior doctors must decrease and more rigorous monitoring of possible adverse incidents must improve. I am glad to be home!