"To my husband it was a prison sentence but to me..."

What I liked

My husband was in St George's Hospital from Jan 1st 2012 to April 19th 2012, and was seriously ill during that time. The treatment he received was very good under difficult circumstances.His infections were hard to eradicate but everything was done to find the right drugs. Most of the staff I came in contact with were skilled and compassionate. There were one or two who really stood out in the nursing staff ,and one of the senior house officers was especially kind, compassionate and helpful during a very difficult time for both my husband and myself. When he was on duty the ward seemed a much nicer place.

His treatment in Cardiac ICU was extremely good.

What could be improved

My husband found some of the nursing staff, particularly at night, were lacking in compassion and skill. This may have been made worse by understaffing which was sometimes evident. Obviously my husband's view of things was different from mine as he experienced it first-hand., and with such a long stay his mood became very low and sometimes intolerant, but sometimes it seemed to him that the nurses' personal chatter was more important than his needs.

He had a big problem with the hospital food which he found repetitive , bland and unpalatable.This caused him to eat very little and lose a great deal of weight, which did not help his condition. I had to take food in to the hospital to feed him with or he would have starved.

His treatment dragged on and there appeared to be no decisions being made of which way to go. I approached PALS with my concerns and almost immediately a meeing was arranged with the Consultant and decisions made.

Finding a parking space was a constant problem. The concessions scheme for long term patients was not brought to my attention until sometime into his stay.The small notice about it by the pay machines led me to believe it would only be available for financial reasons. It was only when I enquired about a season ticket that I was told of the scheme.

Anything else?

I was impressed with the gardens surrounding the hospital buildings. As spring progressed the beds around the site were very colourful. and cheerful. The artwork in the endless corridors helped to break the monotony.