"My elderly mother was admitted to..."

What I liked

My elderly mother was admitted to Russell's Hall on two separate occasions as an emergency for the same illness. Accident and Emergency doctors and nurses worked well together and provided an excellent service even though they were clearly very busy. They were polite and co-operative. EAU also seemed to work well and again nurses and doctors were polite and co-operative. On my relative's first visit she was admitted to Ward C1 and the quality of care was generally high, apart from at weekends when there seemed to be a shortage of staff. This meant that nurses were very rushed and did not always have the time to close curtains properly before attending to patients, which I felt did not fully respect their dignity. I was generally happy with my relative's care here. Tests were done efficiently. The standard of food provided was very high.

What could be improved

The problem came when my relative was readmitted to hospital and went to a ward that did not appear to be run as well as C1. I became quite concerned at the level of rudeness displayed by several members of staff. One of the nurses was rude and offhand with both patients and relatives. Discharge from the ward seemed rushed. The doctor I spoke to was extremely rude and patronising to the point of insult. I was not allowed time or space to ask questions. When I expressed concern that my relative may need to be readmitted, the doctor told me that only God could know that. The hospital told me that they would phone me back and allow me to speak with my mother but this never happened. There was no registrar or consultant available to speak to on the ward. I eventually gave up in tears. These problems were the tip of the ice-berg on this ward.

Anything else?

This is a training hospital and from what I saw a lot of care seems to be provided by FY1 doctors and student nurses.