"Great care in the ward, but some concerns"

I was on Sahara B and I was blown away by how

lovely every member of staff were. I’ve been in hospital loads over the years and this team are by far the best.

However, I must mention a few concerns.

I noticed that the bed ridden weren’t given a wash in the couple of days that I was there. This is something that I’ve noticed often over the years at Queens, so not just this ward.

I’d fasted for almost 24hrs before my surgery as I went down much later than planned. As I woke up in the ward, I was delighted to be offered tea and food (I chose a sandwich). I then realised that it was actually dinner time and just a coincidence. Would I have been offered food otherwise? I don’t think so.

Later that night I was gasping for a drink and I couldn’t face water or even move to lift the jug. I’d had spinal surgery, so quite major.

When the nurse checked on me for obs, I asked if it would be ok to have a cup of tea when they had a spare moment. There was an awkward moment as though it wasn’t her job (quite right) but I was dehydrated and knew I wouldn’t keep water down. I said I was happy to go and buy one from the machine but she made me one.

The biggest concern is that neither my surgeon or any other doctor came to tell me what they did in surgery and how it went. I only saw a doctor briefly on the day of going home and his job was solely to discharge me. It was all very chaotic and he didn’t discuss my surgery.

I’ve never in my life had any surgery where a doctor hasn’t come round and given a run down of what they did in surgery. The nurses didn’t even know if my stitches were dissolvable or whether I had to come back. I’ve assumed they’ve dissolved as my follow up appointment with the surgeon isn’t until May.

I hate ending this on a negative because they were great otherwise.