"short staffed and some staff not knowledgable"

Anything else?

My grandma has recently been in hospital and I and my family visited her on many occasions. On one occasion I went to find a nurse or doctor to ask whether she was allowed to eat, but I stood at the nursing station for around 5 minutes and no one appeared nor could I see anyone near by her ward. It greatly worried me what could have happened if any of the vulnerable people on her ward were to fall, they may not be able to reach and press the 'call' button, my grandma is blind and deaf so she wouldnt have known what had happened to call for help, and im sure this is the same for many of the elderly patients. No one would have seen the incident and no one would be there to prevent the situation or help! I also arrived on one occasion to my grandma standing by her bed unsupervised, unstable, and she was trying to find a chair (which she was holding) but I had to help her sit down. If I hadn't have been there, she is prone to falls and anything could have happened to her. I also witnessed a staff member talking very loudly to another patient about their catherta, only to hear that the patient didnt have a catherta and the nurse had got it wrong. She was very abrupt and I wouldnt have liked her speaking to me like that. On another occasion I saw all the nurses huddled together at the nurse station chatting together, with many patients in the ward by themselves without any company or visitors. I would hope as a tax payer, that my money was paying for staff to care for their patients, both physically, medically and emotionally; giving patients company and emotional support. I am also aware of another incident where several patients in the ward started to argue and my family member almost had to call for help as there were no staff there to prevent the argument escalating. I am actually quite appauled by these concerns, and this all happened within less than a 4 day period! I have seen some good practice though, I have seen one nurse sitting talking with a patient and one student doctor was amazing when she came with me to speak to my grandma as she was feeling confused - so thank you for these wonderfully caring people. I do appreciate the fantastic job that you do!