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Ward was absolutely freezing

Posted By Vulcans

"Ward was absolutely freezing"

About: Lincoln County Hospital / Cardiology Lincoln County Hospital / Medical emergency assessment unit short stay (MEAUSS)

(as a service user),

I was recently admitted suffering from Arterial Fibrillation and shortness of breath which was a side effect of the medication I had been given.

I was admitted in a Resus ward which was absolutely freezing, even the staff were complaining about it. I was in there overnight, whether it was caused by the temperature or what I don't know, but by 5.15am Monday morning, I started with diarrhoea which when on for at least a couple of days.

I was moved into another ward with individual cubicles. Whilst in there a chap came and told me someone was coming from Cardiology with a view to moving me to their ward, but no one turned up.  I saw this chap a little later and beckoned him over, to which he said I will be there in a minute, but he never came back.

I was moved to an assessment ward, which must hold the record of being the most noisy ward in the hospital. One night they even had to call security, because there was a poor chap who would not stay in bed, but kept walking up and down the ward, in the end he had to be sedated. 

I was eventually moved to the Cardiology Short Stay Ward, which in my opinion I should have been moved to earlier seeing as they knew what the problem was, so in effect I had no need to go the assessment ward at all and go two nights without sleep.  I wear hearing aids and felt the need to keep them in so that I could hear the nurses when they came to see me.

I have no complaints whatsoever with the nursing staff, they couldn't have been any better.  My complaint is that I should have been put in the Cardiology ward a lot sooner, if I had, I may well have been home sooner... and been able to get a good nights sleep in a warm room. 

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Responses

Response from Kimberley Neville, Sister, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust last week
Kimberley Neville
Sister,
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust

Submitted on 07/05/2024 at 07:26
Published on Care Opinion at 07:26

Dear Vulcans

We can only apologise for the noise level on the Medical Emergency Assessment Unit. We admit patients onto our unit 24hours a day, and this involves the need for care and treatment to continue throughout the night. We also care for many patients who because of their illnesses may not be aware of the time of day or night. We encourage staff to dim the lights as soon as possible but never to the detriment of patient care. We also encourage staff to lower their voices to allow those who can, to get some rest. We are required to spend the majority of our time in the bay in close proximity to patients due to the acute nature of their illnesses and to allow us to observe them adequately.

In regards to your transfer to the cardiology department, we work closely alongside the cardiology team, and they do take direct admissions for the emergency department when their bed availability allows. However it is often necessary to move people to us from the emergency department prior to this transfer. This is in order to release the pressure in the emergency department. The cardiology team will still review you in our department, as well as our own doctors, so your treatment plan should not of deviated from what they decided.

I’m glad to hear that you had a positive experience from our nursing team and I will pass on your thanks to them, I know this will be very much appreciated.

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