"Frightening. I dread getting old and dependent on..."

What I liked

These comments relate to my mother.

The choice of menu was adequate.

The bed was good

Sheets changed regularly

What could be improved

The level of caring needs drastic improvement

Cleanliness (in side room) needs drastic improvement

Reaction to medical changes needs improvement

Lack of Dr.s on ward needs improvement.

The lack of supervision of staff (at least as far as I can tell, or else the supervisor did not supervise) is a major problem.

Nurses should not delegate when they can deal with something there and then quickly. 'Not my job' attitude is crazy, waste's time and resources.

Feeding of patient - this was done sometimes, not others. At times my mother received no food.

Ensuring she drank enough - again, haphazard.

I could go on and on but frankly I am exhausted by the whole experience.

Anything else?

The care provide by staff generally was low. Some nurses very helpful but more than half showed a lack of respect/basic disinterest for my mother.

The service was provided in terms of administering medicene, changing sheets etc, but in a manner which did not meet what I would call caring, not much conversation and not spoken to as an adult, no warmth. (except from a few).

The floor of her room was usually dirty and as far as we could see rarely cleaned at all.

Following a swollen wrist it took more than 48 hours to arrange an x-ray. Appalling.

Dr.s were not on the ward at weekends so it took an age to get one if required.

Changes in condition were not treated with urgency.

A request to a nurse about how to lower handrail on the side of a bed was responded to 'I'll send someone' - why? would take 5 seconds, or show the visitor if they do not feel it's their job.

Ensuring patients eat and drink is part of the role of the hospital and needs to be undertaken consistently, at every meal, for all patients.

From the visitor prespective, staff seemed slow to react. When at the reception desk you were normally ignored even though it was clear you were standing waiting. Medical conditions pointed out by visitor not noticed by staff or noticed but nothing done.