"Feeling worse than admition.."

I have recently been a patient on the Eden Ward and can quite honestly say that’s after one night i genuinely felt worse than I did upon admition. As a young woman suffering with pain and discomfort of ovarian cysts and unsure as to what was happening to me, it’s incredibly unnerving. This anxious feeling is only elevated by the fact that I was sharing a ward with patients with all sorts of medical conditions, a lot of them elderly with no control over their bodily functions. No sleep due to snoring and shouting and I was shocked by one nurses own admition that this ward is a ‘dumping ground for patients awaiting care packages or transport to care homes’.

When will the NHS start getting it right? The poor nurses are fantastic considering how overstretched they are. They spend the majority of the time, from what I can see and hear, coming and going with commodes and sick bowls and washing/changing elderly patients. I spent most of the night in agony not wanting to push the call button and add to their already stressful workloads! It is not fair that young women that are suffering with actual Gynaecological issues are sharing wards with ladies that quite clearly need to be elsewhere. It is an ordeal in itself being in pain but the emotional stress is something else! This is not a knock at any of the staff, they brilliant it’s just really not a nice place to recover and relax whilst seeking the medical care that is needed.