General Chat

Hi All. Reading some of your messages on here has brought back a lot of painful memories. My Dad was in the University Hospital Wales and was also treated appalingly. Luckily i was advised by a nurse in Intensive Care to keep a diary of daily events as sometimes it helped patients to realise what they had been through. I kept this diary going for over a year until the day he died so i have dates of all the different wrongs done to my Dad. MRSA was the major factor in my Dads death. The hospital is filthy and i would never go there even if i was dying. I recieved a letter from UHW yesterday with answers to all the complaints ( a list as long as my arm). Basically the excuses were short staffed and i am sorry all through the reply. No actual explanations for what had gone wrong. But that is what i expected. The NHS in this country needs a good kick up the b**. Alyson

email address for the PALS above pals put in an at here epsom-sthelier (.)nhs (.)uk Clive (not part of address!!)

Somebody had trouble locating their PALS info. Here it is for them. If other people are having trouble too pm me for contact details. There is no excuse for poor treatment of patients. PALS Manager at the PALS Office, Rowan House, Epsom General Hospital, Dorking Road, Epsom, Surrey, KT18 7EG PALS Phone number Epsom & St Helier - Epsom 013272 735 393 St Helier 020 8296 2508 email address to follow - if I can beat GR hope this helps Clive

While I am sure that many nurses are very hard working I am amazed when I attend the outpatient clinic that there are always a seemingly disproprtionate number of nursing staff working on the clinics. At my recent visit there were three nurses who apparently did nothing but weigh you then stand chatting (or moaning). They treated the patients as if they weren't there, continuing their personal conversations while pointing for you to get on the scales! I also attended for a procedure last year as a day patient and for the first hour about 8 nursing staff chatted then one eventually rang and asked the doctor if he was coming for his patients. When she put the phone down the group had a conversation about how he never comes on time and he would knock them back so they wouldn't get finished on time. On a positive note, when I was offered a date for my forthcoming surgery it was only two weeks away so somethings look like they are changing for the better, however, I am more worried about contracting a bug than I am about the op! I can only speak from experience at one hospital but perhaps if they distributed the work force more evenly they may not have so many problems! Andrea

That is awful, but unfortunately, not unusual in todays hospitals. Our Nurses are over stretched and I take my hat off to them. I once considered doing a bit of voluntary work at my local hospital, cos they saved my life & I wanted to give something back. But, I was worried that if I went in healthy, I'd come out with some superbug or something. I hope she will be better soon.

Hi All Did anyone contact their PALS? Did they prove helpful? Clive

so sorry daphne as your experience was the same as ours ,my mum went in a lady ,would never complain but was neglected and died in there .not once did any one say sorry .

I was in hospital in december 2001. I was treated like a queen. My 35 year old son was in hospital last year October.... he was quite literally at deaths door. The treatment he recieved from the night staff was ...cruel, and inhumane. He was not in a postion to make any complaints.... this is not financial , this is nastiness at its lowest level by people who SHOULD be caring for the patients. My son lived because of the determination of his daytime nurse, a wonderful young man who argued with the doctors and got help for my son. we know this because the doctor told him about it and said they had not expected him to live 6 more hours!! AND it took a nurse to fight for him!! Deanna X

Hi Lin My mum was in hospital earlier this yr for a replacement knee, she is 86 .What the staff forget no matter what their age they still have there dignity and all patents should be treated with respect . My take on this is . if they are elderly they think they can get away with it . Yes at times nurses are very busy but other times they are( at times ) just lazy . How long does it take to get a cup ? or there medication . I had to strip mums bed and put clean sheets on ,she was left in a corridor of the ward ,when returning from physio for 2 hrs. The first thing you need to do is ask for the sister in charge of the ward and speak to her . We are all afraid that if we complain they will take it out on the patient ,don't be .I have found it has the opposite affect you don't bring it to the attention of snr staff then they cant deal with it. I say bring back Matrons , there was non of this when they were employed.On that note Im of to hopital this pm as I am to have a op ,god help me and all who stay there . Goog Luck

My mum was admitted to Sunderland Royal 3 years ago after a fall. She was 89. She came out when she died 6 weeks later. The day before her fall she had been out doing her own shopping, taking a bus to the shopping centre and taxi home. She was infected with C Diff within days of going into hospital, eventually put in a side room that was filthy after she suffered a stroke. I arrived after a 250 mile car journey to visit and could almost stick to the floor. Mums sheets were covered in dried vomit, her false teeth were stuck in her mouth and she was unwashed and very upset as she was always such an imaculately turned out lady. Her medication was put on a table on the side she had suffered the stroke so she couldn't get at them and she couldn't reach a drink or the bell which was hanging on it's holder behind her bed. I went to look for a nurse and asked had they run out of linen, if not would they please bring clean sheets for the bed. All I got was a shrug, I then said bring the sheets and I'll assist you to change them. I had to wash my mum, clean her teeth and mouth and change her linen. I complained to the staff at the conditions and the next day the head of cleaning had the nerve to say to my sister the room was spotless!!! My sister told her to get her blinkers off and some new specs on. Both my sister and I nursed, training at Sunderland in what was then the Royal Infirmary, sadly no longer there. When my sister told the nursing ward sister how things should be done she was told, her ways were old fashioned, they do things differently now. I should say they do and not for the better on that ward. On the other side, I was recently a patient at Worcester Royal Hospital that has had a lot of bad press. The ward I was on was imaculate. Staff had time for everyone and nothing was too much trouble. It was almost a pleasure to be there. Daphne

Hi Kath so nice to see a positive reply. But, I have to say sadly they are few and far between. And, yes I shall be contacting PALS. Thank you all for your comments. Lin xxx

Well I would like to add a positive comment to this thread My dad (82) came out of hospital today after spending just over 2 weeks as an in-patient The care he recieved has been exceptional. My dad has Parkinsons disease and has suffered a few strokes so can't do much for hisself. He is able to feed himself, though finds it difficult to cut up his food etc, this was always done for him as soon as his food was served. Every time we visited he was sat in his chair, washed, shaved and looking well-cared for The ward was always very busy, but nothing was too much trouble for the staff, who were always pleasent and cheerful. Kath

linn ,just been watching the news,do people realize that cdiff kills more patients than mrsn .not all cases are reported .it wasn't even put on mums death certificate .mum died in wednesday morning ,on thursday we went back to hospital to collect her belongings ,the weather was so hot .we put stuff in boot .because of the ammount of things we had to do we forget about the bag in boot .on the saturday we brought it in and i sorted it .imagine my horror when i discovered all mums soiled night wear .that bug had been brought to another house .this bug could have been spread .just don't mention hospitals to me .

Just a little suggestion,go into Boots or Tesco and get a box of 'Re Hyration' powders,and when you visit ensure that she has one of these with water,it might help. Hal.

Lin saw this happen with a 92 yr old man in next bed to oh who is still in hospital.....poor soul had leg amputated n he couldnt see very well....his meals were put on the table over his bed and he was left to feed him self......many a time we went in and he hadnt managed very well to eat his meals.....husband use to say they didnt even bother to cut the food up for him he has now been discharged and gone back to nursing home ann xx

old people should be treated with more respect glad you went to see her

Hope you all follow up your complaints by contacting the right PALS (see above). If PALS can't fix it automatically goes to the Care Commission and they have teeth and big boots so the PCTs do respond. Please help make it better for everyone. Clive

right here goes ,plese or offend .my mum died in hospital last year ,went in with a minor problem ,picked up the dc bug and died .we went to see her one night and her food was untouched ,can't tell you what is was but looked like something you find outside a niht club on sunday morning .the girl in the next bed who was mobile had gone to hospital shop and brought mum a sandwich as she was hungry ,nurse came to collect trays and commented that mum hadn't eaten her tea ,i said would you have eaten it and she just shrugged .as to water jugs ,we were told they don't use them now ,mum had to drink plenty so we took a supply of bottled stuff .not enough room here to tell you everything ,only to say that place is so filthy it needs to be burnt down and another one built .sorry but thats how i feel .

will add in a minute .need to think how to word it .

If you go to http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Policyandguidance/Organisationpolicy/PatientAndPublicinvolvement/Patientadviceandliaisonservices/index.htm on the right hand side of the screen is a panel to lead to contact details for all PALs in the country. PALS stand for Patient Advice and Liaison Service. I do not believe it is a question of time. It is a question of management and attitude. Quite often a senior staff member overrules the more junior and willing staff. Create a row!! Insist on proper care. Clive