"Great Care, extremely poor facilities, and staff were not equipped for neurodivergent patients"

I was recently admitted to ward 21  for emergency surgery and a week long admission, following some unfortunate post surgery complications from the week before. Regretfully, the experience was mixed to poor. 

Firstly, the pros. The student nurses are an absolute credit to their profession and really give me hope for the future of nursing. Their knowledge, interpersonal skills and care was nothing shy of legendary and really made the time a bit more tolerable. The auxiliary staff and several nurses were also exceptional. Additionally, the surgical team, anaesthetics and staff at the Trauma Assessment Unit were top class. They made sure I was informed, knew what was happening and took the time to go over things in detail. One member of the auxiliary team also took the time to apologise profusely after I was missed from the dinner order due to an error, it wasn't their error but they took the time to listen and apologise for someone else's when they didn't have to. 

Unfortunately, the building is overcrowded and not really fit for purpose. One toilet shared between 6 people that was regularly backed up and broken. The call button in said toilet was broken and I was left for upwards of half an hour on a backed up and broken toilet. Bright florescent lights turned on at 6.30am and kept on until 11.30pm in most instances, meaning it was extremely difficult to maintain any form of sleep hygiene.

Some staff not respecting a closed curtain is closed for a reason. I raised early that I had an online therapy appointment that I wanted to keep, for obvious reasons of being unexpectedly admitted, but was told that there was no private space that the appointment could have been taken. No private space to have any sort of conversation at all. No family room or visitors room of any kind.

Beyond that, as this is an orthopaedic ward, the majority of the patients were deaf or had dementia. That meant staff were regularly using an extremely loud volume as default, as a result. The communication in general was lacking, with many consultant notes and instructions not recognized until the consultant made the rounds the following day and having to prompt staff. There were also multiple incidents of nurses manipulating my cannula and other medical devices without consent and without speaking to me first. Pain relief was also poorly managed.

Every request I made, I was told that it would have been dealt with in the next round, despite that not being for several hours. Several nurses were also dismissive of my partner, giving inaccurate and false information regarding visiting times. Being told that 1130am at the earliest would be appropriate - despite this being well after the ward rounds where my partner may have had an input. 

As someone with a significant anxiety disorder, I was experiencing regular panic attacks and claustrophobia. The air in the building was constantly hot and stale, in a ward much better suited to four beds than six. I was very close to absconding several times and was only talked down by the student nurses and my partner. I raised the communication issues with consultant who acknowledged the surgical outcomes could have been better communicated to reduce distress. Every time I raised issues with other staff I was reminded that I was not the only patient and made to feel like a significant burden.  

I'm grateful for the care given, and I appreciate how challenging it is to work in that particular ward, but when there is a notable culture shift when some or one member of staff is on shift, it does raise significant concerns about the function of the ward. I will have to be readmitted for a future surgery and am extremely worried that no changes or improvements will be made. Sometimes you are made to feel more like an inmate than a patient. 

For specifically actionable points - what is the point of the what matter to me boards if no one looks at them or acknowledges them? There was a patient in the ward whose board had the name of the previous patient but no one took the time to change it. 

- when patients are admitted, they are left with no intake or induction information. You're just expected to either know about your care or not bother the staff about your care. 

- Being disturbed some nights and early mornings, at random, for obs even though I wasn't down for obs due to being fine. Is the obs board just for the students? 

- The bell system to tell visitors to leave was not communicated to visitors. Also, while I appreciate that there needs to be a system to ask patients to leave, being herded out like cows isn't appropriate. 

 - The handovers are done poorly. I learned that I could not ask for help during a specific window because I knew that the information would not have been passed onto the night/day shift. I learned this after my partner had to chase painkillers for a patient who had been left for hours in agony from a hip surgery. 

- The board claims to have a patient-centred visiting policy but the only people who made my partner feel like not a burden or a hassle was the student nurses and auxiliary staff. 

- The ward staff should be given time and training on how to better support neurodiverse patients. We need calm communication, not chaos and panic. We also need it to be respected that we do need our carers present to aid communication. It shouldn't be on patients or carers to have to build trust in order to get anywhere with our care. 

Finally, as an NHS member of staff myself, I'd always urge colleagues regardless of status to remind themselves of the NHS Values and Beliefs. When you're in a role for so long, they can be easily forgotten.