"Staying at Lings Bar was a bad experience for my..."

Thank you for your feedback it is very important to us as it helps us to understand how we can make improvements to our service. I would really like to be able to discuss this with the ward team that it involves to ensure that we don’t have a repeat of any of the issues you mention.

What I can say is that all wards have baths and shower facilities and all patients are offered the use of these on a regular basis. If patients decline to use them then a strip wash in either the bathroom or at the bedside is undertaken with as much support and assistance the individual patients requires. We do place emphasis on encouraging as much independence as possible as part of the rehabilitation programme of care we provide but appreciate that this is not always appropriate for all patients in our service and an individualised care plan is developed ideally with the support of family members where possible and appropriate to do so.

I am very sorry that your fathers slippers were on the wrong feet at visiting – we do appreciate it if families can inform us of any instances where care is not as family would expect at the time so we can review the situation and discover why this is the case and how we can put it right. Sadly patients can alter their own footwear whilst sitting and staff may not have seen that this was the case before the family have visited. (it is not clear if this was a one off instance or repeated.)

Staff are aware of their responsibilities and professional requirements and if they have been rude I would be really interested to know more about this so that I can fully investigate the issues raised with the staff involved. We are sorry if staff have been less than warm and caring in their approach to any patient in our care.

We do have a programme of exercise groups running in the wards and one ward does have a group each week to stimulate the mind by doing word association exercises and reminiscence group work with a volunteer this always helps to promote good mood with the patients who choose to attend.

The staffing levels are set to a minimum safe level and we monitor this closely to ensure that the patients and staff are kept as safe as possible.

I am really very sorry that this experience has left you feeling so disappointed in the service we provide and I would be happy to discuss this in more detail with you if you wish to contact me as it is very difficult to provide a specific response as all the details are not available for me to check with the patient, family and staff in this case.

Sara Jane Ashmore

Head of In Patient Nursing/Matron

County Health Partnerships

Lings Bar Hospital

Beckside

Gamston

Nottingham

NG2 6PR

Direct Line 01158837428 Internal 37428

Mobile 07817988281

Email - sarajane.ashmore@nottshc-chp.nhs.uk