"Some wonderful staff, but some others left us disappointed"

My father was admitted to The Royal Cornwall Hospital due to a sudden rapid decline with his vascular dementia. We sat in an ambulance for quite a few hours on what was probably the coldest night of the year, the crew who picked my dad up were great with him, but the crew we were handed over to were ‘different’, one staff member seemed almost antagonistic towards my father and in hindsight I should have said something to them but I did not. 

He was admitted to The Royal Cornwall on a Saturday morning, into a nice ward which was quite peaceful for him but then the next day had been moved into what can only be described as a ‘holding pen’. Only a couple of staff to try and care for everyone. He was very distressed and confused . It was loud, busy and very difficult for him to cope with. When we visited him it was very difficult to find out what was going on…only the Dementia Team eventually gave us any information. He was eventually relocated to Karenza Ward….

On our first visit onto this ward no one really talked to us,  no one made any effort to let us know what was happening regarding dad’s condition. Dad was still very confused, he has very bad cataracts in both his eyes which meant he had much difficulty in new surroundings…. We visited frequently, we found some of the staff on the ward to be kind and compassionate toward their patients and the visitors…. Making an effort to communicate, be helpful and respectful…and really show care toward the patients . Unfortunately there were also staff who would sit in a corner on their mobile phone ignoring patients' requests for assistance, or who did not bother to communicate, or did not bother to look at their elderly patients and speak to them directly or clearly… surely this is common sense when looking after elderly people. We found it very difficult to find out what was happening regarding dad's care or how he had been, the nurses seemed to avoid any contact with us.

Dad was in Karenza for a good few weeks and only once did the nurse in charge actually volunteer information , he was a breath of fresh air, smiling and talking to everyone. Once we were let onto the ward and greeted by a staff member saying at the top of their voice for everyone to hear that dad was to be found in his room masturbating; honestly, as if my mother was not distressed enough. He was not doing this , he was just upset and confused …. Some of the staff showed a complete lack of compassion…

Karenza was a mixed ward, but having male HCA’s give personal care to elderly females really did not seem right and it was very undignified. After a few weeks of being on Karenza it became clear they wanted ‘rid’ of dad as he was probably quite difficult to care for due to his illness, although he did not ever seem to be aggressive . He was moved to Zennor ward. Again here there were some really good HCA’s but again only one nurse really spoke to us. We witnessed other family members of other patients try and ask questions , we witnessed patients asking for help, only to all be often ignored. It was very sad to see people in their time of need be treated like this by some professionals who are in a caring role. Also getting in and out of Zennor ward is ridiculous, we had to be let through three sets of doors,  someone would open one for you then leave you trapped between the others, it felt like visiting was being made difficult.

When we finally had a call to ask me if we could transport dad to a care home so he wasn’t in hospital for another weekend we were happy, we really did not want him to spend another weekend in there. The discharge team on both wards were very good, had time to actually talk to you and listen to concerns and seemed to have dad's needs in mind.

During the couple of months dad was under the care of the royal Cornwall hospital we met some truly wonderful staff who should be appreciated, twelve hour shifts are so difficult to cope with in a caring role, yet they would always be smiling and helpful, but some others…….the entire experience left us feeling disappointed and sad ….