"Ribblesdale Ward staff very polite and..."

What I liked

Ribblesdale Ward staff very polite and helpful but extremely busy. Excellent care once commenced by dedicated and caring nursing staff.

What could be improved

I took my mother onto the ward at 11am for scheduled in-patient chemotherapthy. On arrival she was asked to sit in the day room and wait until a bed became available - this continued until 8pm in the evening - 9hours after she had been scheduled to start her chemo! She finally got into a bed at 8.10pm but unfortuantely as this was late in the evening her chemo could not commence until the following day. Therefore, the full day was wasted for my mother, she was extremely tired but there wasn't anywhere for her to have a lie down during the day and it also resulted in my mother having one extra unnecessary overnight stay in hospital and delaying commencement of her chemo by one day.

Anything else?

The care, help and advice given by the nursing and auxillary staff on the Ribblesdale Ward is outstanding and it is unfortunate that this incident occurred but none the less, this is not the care cancer patients (or any other ill patients) should expect and should not be acceptable to the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals.