"Stroke Ward in Forth Valley Hospital Larbert"

My husband was admitted to the Stoke Ward in FVRH. During the first 48 hrs he was attended to by a student nurse who was responsible for taking his obs.  Some of the auxiliary nurses are fantastic. Three of them work tirelessly all day and never stop. These auxiliaries took time to look in on him frequently, doing even more than just their care and comfort checks. However others came in the morning, left his towels at the end of the bed and then disappeared for the rest of the day.

 My husband witnessed 2 staff members having a personal conversation about how one of them had been reprimanded that morning by a superior. This conversation happened whilst attending to an elderly patient’s toileting needs. This felt really inconsiderate to the patient and their vulnerable situation, he must have felt invisible. One of them snatched away a patients feeding apron because he was touching the bottom of it whilst they were feeding him. It was horrible to witness this.

My husband could not sleep for several nights because the nurses were talking loudly and laughing in the corridor throughout the early hours. One night, unbeknown to the patients, there were only 2 staff on shift. One patient buzzed for help and the staff member arrived and quickly snapped at him that they couldn’t keep coming to him because they only had 2 staff on for 32 patients. Poor man deserved better care.

 

The physios were really amazing and helpful and had a professional yet personal approach to my husband’s physio regime.  My husband looked forward to his physio sessions. The cleaner kept the room spotless and really took pride in her work each day. She was a gem. 

One of the senior staff nurses was extremely helpful, understanding and accommodating when I spoke with her about my husband’s care. Overall we feel that there are many committed and caring nurses in the Stroke ward but others seemed to lack that sense of care towards the patients