"Clean bright ward, good food and attentive staff."

What I liked

My treatment was first class.

All the staff were courteous and friendly.

The food was very good.

The nurses appeared to be fully occupied, having occasional periods when they were 'rushed off their feet' but on the whole they had time for their patients.

What could be improved

1. The Pharmacy needs to be sorted out. I witnessed many people being prevented from going home for typically 4 hours after the doctors discharged them because the process of obtaining medication from the pharmacy is so slow.

2. Silly 'check lists' on walls for staff to tick boxes to say that a room has been checked for equipment on the first Monday of the month, or that someone has checked every single hour to see that I have been able to go to the toilet, which is totally inappropriate nonsence for patients who are able bodied. Get rid of check lists and save the nurses efforts for attending to those who are less able bodied. If the ward managers want check lists completing, maybe they should do the checks themselves rather than devise work for busy nurses to complete.

3. On 3 occasions and whilst in a cardiology ward I was suffering arrythmias which needed to be captured on an ECG, yet the nurses on the night shifts were unable to operate the ECG machine which was new and would not allow operators to use it until my details had been labouriously typed in, by which time the arrythmias had largely subsided. The fact that 3 nurses had to call for assistance from colleagues suggests that this is a training issue and not an individual issue.

Anything else?

Whilst in a bay with 4 patients, one of the patients suffered cardiac arrest and was revived by use of a defibrillator after about 6 shocks and cardiac massage. He suffered a further arrest 45 minutes later after his family arrived and was revived once more in a similar manner. This went on from 00:30am until 8.30am when I was able to escape to the dining room for my breakfast. During this time the patient was shocked over 40 times and underwent several bouts of cardiac massage, during which time about 10 members of his family were crying and wailing, running in and out of the bay as staff tried to encourage them to wait in the family room.

The effect this had on me and the other occupant of the bay was horrible in the extreme. I found myself willing for the man to die because I couldn't stand the trauma of hearing the patients cardiac arrest yawn followed by the heart monitor alarm and then the defibilllator charging once more, knowing what the patient was going through. He was a lovely man and I was later pleased to hear that following a couple of days in intensive care he regained consciousness. The staff did a fantastic job of keeping him alive when I incorrectly would have thought that he should have been allowed to die. But it was not something that other patients should have to witness. The old chap's arrest was unexpected and I cannot fault the fact that he was in a bay with other patients. I understand that there was nowhere else to take this patient as no side rooms were available. And there was nowhere else to put we other patients who were in the bay. But this experience was truely horrible for me. I don't ever want to be 'shocked' after witnessing that, or undergo cardiac massage. It has frightened me. I cannot think of any solutions that would avoid patients like me witnessing something so horrible the otherside of a flimsy curtain. If there is a solution, please employ it !