"Staff and cleanliness"

Anything else?

After a nine week stay it appeared to me that the university educated nurses felt it beneath themselves to keep the patients and wards clean. Night times and weekends were a diabolical joke with agency nurses playing games on their computers, the patients were an inconvenience. At one point the ward was flooded with sewage for two days from the visitors toilets and paper towels were continually put down by the health care assistans and cleaners on the floor to try and mop it up. Surprisingly the level of infection rose. Patients dare not complain as they are labelled "awkward" and their level of care is reduced even further. I have heard this first hand from staff saying ""ignore him, he is a constant pain". Maybe he was a pain but that is not an excuse to leave him lying in his own bodily fluids for hours on end. The food was almost inedible and patients very rarely got what they had ordered unless you were one of the first to be served. I am not stupid, I understand the logistics and problems faced daily by the staff but I cannot understand the holier that thou attitude adopted by staff at all levels. Obviously there are some excellent doctors, nurses and health care assistants who go way beyond what they are employed to do and, believe me, it is a relief when they are on duty : a reprieve for a while. Another thing I noticed is that at 2pm just when visitors are arriving, the nurses would come and do obs on patients, a chat and smile to give a good impression to visitors. It was quite funny to watch but so hypocritical. The number of times staff walk around aimlessly with a piece of paper, up and down the wards and corridors is unbelievable and the number of times they do not bring enough equipment with them, even to change a simple dressing is quite mind blowing. Maybe an undercover investigation is required, Time and motion study. Something needs to be done to stop this disgusting time wasting. Drug trollies should never be left unattended but I have seen it quite a few times and have even seen a visitor take some packets out of the trolley and put them in the inside pocket of his jacket because the drug trolley was left open and unattended. This is a serious allegation but I have no proof. It scares me to be admitted to that hospital ever again. They could learn a lot from the staff at Addenbrookes. Totally different league of an NHS hospital. I would prefer to remain anonymous in case I have to be admitted to Bedford in the future, I dread the repercussions.