"Didn't feel like it was the right ward for me"

I would like to thank the physiotherapist & the Occupational Therapist for all their help, the neurology secretaries & the neurologist for their help & also a few nurses for all their help in assisting me to do transfers etc outwith my times with physio & ot despite being extremely short staffed they always made me feel supported.

This is unfortunately where the good things end about ward 9 my experience on the whole was absolutely awful left in bed for over 2 weeks asking for help & rehab was impossible due to lack of staff & some staff I didn’t feel safe to do transfers & I wasn’t putting myself at risk of falling even if it was stated to me that all staff were trained to do so, by a staff member who I found to be very rude & very unprofessional not at all approachable. They came round one morning first time meeting them and was very curt and stated they were getting me up and well if they had bothered to have a conversation with me they would’ve found out I had been trying to do this for 2 weeks!! 

Ward 9 was a discharge ward where I didn’t think was the right ward for me to be on although I was medically fit I wasn’t rehab fit, in fact ward 9 actually made me decline in mobility, there was no toilet in the ward it was quite a distance away in the main corridor which I feel wasn’t good enough. Some days I didn’t get washed until afternoon I had to ask for a bowl to clean my teeth, my hair hadn’t been brushed in 2 weeks  & the OT removed my catheter night bag at one afternoon I felt actually quite dismissed.

A nurse took the time to wash & brush my hair which felt amazing I was very frustrated on ward 9 & I was not the only patient to feel like this, some days the only time I saw staff was with our food otherwise I was just lying there in bed. I actually called the neurology secretaries who were extremely helpful & also my ms nurse. I actually felt I had more help & support from people outside of the ward, I felt like I was fighting for myself to get the help I needed to get home & at one point I actually considered discharging myself as it was such an awful environment to be in. There was no storage to put any of your belonging a plastic box in, the windowsill was where all your clothes went, the general tidiness & cleanliness on the ward wasn’t great either.

Some staff on the ward were great but there was not enough of them on the ward to give each patient what they need & they try there best, but buzzers were going off constantly & not enough staff to answer them quickly enough, I actually left before I felt ready but knew I would do better at home, the ARP who assessed me for my care package at home was fantastic she actually cared & listened to me & what I was needing and basically helped me get back home.

I was in cardiology ward 23 before I went to ward 9 which was fantastic it was clean efficient & enough staff to help me with rehab I really wish I could’ve stayed in that ward as I feel my mobility wouldn’t have declined & I would have been able to get home sooner than I did if I have to have a stay in hospital again. I will be refusing to go to ward 9 as my stay there affected me both physically & mentally I have had a few stays in hospital and have had a positive experience & the help/rehab I needed but not this time, ward 9 was not a good experience at all.