What I liked
The A&E team: they were efficient, sympathetic and very communicative.
The cleaners, the ladies serving food and the SHOs on the ward.
Going home - and hopefully never going back
What could be improved
The ward, where I spent my first two night after being admitted from A&E, was a nightmare. There were about 14 people crammed into one overheated room. The nurses kept my curtains open so they could see how I was doing, but this meant I was in full view of the three men across the (very narrow) aisle from me. Fortunately I was too hot and miserable to be very self-conscious about lying sweating in just a gown in front of male strangers. It was impossible to sleep at night because people were being moved in and out at all hours. The shared toilet was down the hall from the ward and it was filthy.
Nursing care: when I had finally been moved to a better ward, I noticed that the older women who dropped food on themselves were never cleaned up or had their gowns changed. When a nurse made me bleed all over the bed and my arm putting in a new cannula, they didn't clean the blood off or ask anyone else to do it (or change the blood-splashed bedding), even though I was too weak to do it myself.
The food was inedible and unhealthy. If my boyfriend hadn't brought me food every day I would have lost a stone in the Royal Free!
Anything else?
After the first-rate A&E team, the first ward was an unpleasant surprise. Sick people should not be crammed into an overheated mixed-sex ward. Most people in there hadn't been diagnosed yet, and having us so close together probably spread all sorts of illness.DepressionCommunicationFoodOpening hoursProfessionalismTemperatureToiletsWardCleanersNursing staffCleanlinessPatient careBeds
"Nightmarish, apart from the A&E."
About: The Royal London Hospital The Royal London Hospital London E1 1BB
Posted via nhs.uk
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