"Poor communication skills of medical staff"

After an excellent service provided by the A&E staff (nursing and medical), I had a misfortune to be transferred to a short stay ward 103. The nursing staff were excellent and tried to keep me informed with my care plan.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the medical staff I met on that ward. I was told around 8. 30pm that a doctor will "come around soon" and see me to take blood sample and give me my heart medication on Friday night. By midnight, there was still no sign of the doctor despite the nursing staff advising me that they will be "around soon". I was kept awake waiting for this elusive doctor and my heart medication. I gave up waiting and went to sleep by 3am. The doctor finally came about 5am to talk to me about my stay in Ward 103 and I missed my night medication by then.

If I was told earlier on that it would not have mattered if I missed my night time medication, I would not have been stressed out waiting for it. For someone who is recovering from a recent heart attack and surgery, surely, this is not an ideal situation for me to be put upon. I would have thought that during a busy time I. e. Friday night, there would be more than one doctor working.

I was told every day that I will be discharged that day. On Saturday, my wife stayed from 10am to 8pm, thinking that I will be discharged that day. We were told very late on Saturday, by the nursing staff, that I will be kept in the ward as they need me to undertake the ETT on Monday. The ETT was carried out at 4pm on Monday, which meant that I had to stay another night in Ward 103. Again, this information was not passed on to me or my wife until we actually asked for it around 8pm in the evening.

As I had my first cardiac rehab appointment on Tuesday morning, I asked the doctor to let them know that I won't be able to make the appointment. I later discovered that the information was not passed on to the cardiac rehab team. I could have lost my place on the programme because of non attendance.

I was discharged late Tuesday afternoon, feeling very stressed and exhausted.

Surely as a patient in your hospital, I have the right to be informed of my care and treatment rather than being left to wonder what is happening. It was hard enough to be unwell, but to be kept in the dark about what is happening with me and my care when I was an in-patient was worst for my family and my wife who had to travel, sometime twice a day, to the hospital.

Surely, the medical staff are taught that their communication skills are as important as their clinical skills.