"The staff are doing their best"

Following my transfer from CAH the staff were brilliant in putting me at ease.  The nurses are great advocates and were able to provide me with everything I asked for.  It's a very busy ward but the nurses always make time to chat and reassure.  I have found it to be a pleasant and quiet atmosphere, not easy given the sheer numbers of very ill patients.  I have been impressed too with the willingness to also pay attention to spiritual needs.  As Bibles are no longer available at the bedside, nursing staff saw to it that a Chaplain visited me promptly after admission.  

Post surgery things were very different.  I have gone from totally independent to totally dependent.  The staff are dealing with very dependent patients.  I was left in a puddle of urine as the night staff started their shift.  The nurses apologised and got me cleaned up without fuss.  Given higher dependency scores I would have liked to see another staff member as I can hear clearly confused dementia patients.  I waited an entire day for urology to catheterize me. I accepted pads to make life easier for staff..  Far from ideal for someone in their 40s.

The staff are doing their best in a fast moving ward, another example of how our health service is struggling and under resourced.  There is a high number of agency staff and I am concerned about that. To me that suggests it is not a happy ward?  There was also some mention of racism on the ward.  Not acceptable in today's society.