"Excellent care but a corridor bed"

I was admitted to ward 3N at Craigavon Area Hospital for IV antibiotics and remained on the ward for a week.

I want to thank all the staff involved in my care. In particular I was really impressed by how kind and professional all the nurses, healthcare assistants and domestic staff were.

The ward felt like a friendly and caring environment, and I was impressed by how staff worked together to provide care in sometimes quite challenging circumstances.

The only more negative aspect to my admission was being in a corridor bed outside the bays for the whole duration of my stay. Although I benefitted from the ward being prepared to work beyond capacity, a corridor bed provides very little opportunity for any minimum standard of privacy or dignity.

Since being in this position as a patient, I have noticed local press coverage and articles by the RCN describing how this in my opinion unacceptable practice has become normalised and accepted. I realise this is symptomatic of the pressure on the system, but do feel it is important to highlight how this feels from a patient's point of view.