"Rude nurse and poor ward facilities"

I was admitted to East Surrey Hospital in December 2012 to acute medical unit with COPD. My stay there was very good. but after 3 days I was told at 01:45am I was going to be moved to Vanguard ward.

On my arrival to Vanguard ward which is off Capel ward, you had to go through capel ward to get to vangaurd, which was closed to the noravirus. I found that Vangaurd ward was a portacabin with no windows and very very hot. I asked the night staff if I could have a fan, when the nurse tried to plug the fan in, the earth pin was missing from the plug.

In the morning day nursing staff came on duty. The nurse was very rude saying that I should hurry up and have my nebs. She then gave me my breakfast, " being one slice of bread and butter".

I asked for a cup of tea and she said that I have missed it and I would not get another till 11 am. Then she said that I could not go and have a shower as capel ward was closed to the nora virus. So she gave me some cold water in a paper bowl.

My sats level dropped to 91% and they did not report it to a doctor. When I asked her where the toilet was, she showed me outside to another portacabin where there was a toilet and shower! she said to me" you can have your bloody shower now". The shower was very dirty to which I have taken photos.

When I went back to Vanguard ward three other patients were all complaining about the lack of room, equipment and excessive heat in the ward.

A doctor arrived, who was reviewing another patient. The nurse shouted "He is not here to see you". So I asked him if he could see me as well. He said that I was "very short of breath and wheeze", and listened to my chest and said that I would have to stay in hospital. I said that this ward is making me feel very ill due the lack of ventilation and heat in here, and asked if he could move me. His reply was he would talk to the bed manager.

By 12 noon I was feeling very low and stressed, so I said to the healthcare assistant that I would go and sit in the coffee shop in the east entrance and gave her my mobile number if they needed me. I feel I was treated very badly by the staff nurse on duty that day and if my daughter had not come to the hospital to see me I don't know what may have happened to my health.

She complained to the bed manager, "who agreed that I should not have been moved here" and moved me to to Angio suite, as a matter of urgency, and remarked that, "someone with breathing problems should not have been moved to this ward in the first place.