"Visting elderly grandmother in hospital"

My grandmother is in her 90s and was rushed into hospital with suspected pneumonia, and unfortunately our experience at Wexham Park Hospital has been deeply concerning.

During my first visit, I was shocked to find that staff were preparing to discharge her after only 48 hours, at 6pm, in freezing cold weather. Given her age and condition, I strongly disagreed with this decision and voiced my concerns. Thankfully, they reconsidered, and she ended up being kept in for another week, which shows the decision to discharge her was clearly premature.

After only a couple of days at home, she was readmitted with sickness and diarrhoea. This time, she was placed in A&E Blue Ward, which appeared severely understaffed. From what I could see, there was only one nurse at the desk and a few healthcare assistants trying to manage multiple patients. Call bells seemed to go unanswered, and several patients were left uncovered, which was both undignified and distressing; especially with visitors present. We even had to pull a curtain around one patient ourselves to give them some privacy.

I don’t know if the staffing issues were due to it being the weekend, but the level of care and attention I witnessed on both visits was far from acceptable.