"Avoid Ward A4"

My daughter was transferred to Ward A4 for 1 night and this is the worst ward I have ever seen.

Previously my daughter received amazing care on Ward EAU4 for seizures in her sleep. Unfortunately, on arrival to A4 we were informed there seemed to have been an administrative error by the bed manager and a bed was not available. At this time the day staff were finishing their shift and not responsive in any way to us. Once the Ward manager had found a room on A4, my daughter was put in a single side room [G] where there was no staff to watch over her and no nurse bell in the room. She had been sedated so couldn't go to the bathroom unaided so apart from the lack of nursing care, her dignity would have also been taken from her, should i have not stayed the night.

The plug sockets in the room were broken and hanging away from the wall - we have photos of these. We had paid for 24 hour TV/telephone service but the monitor in room G was broken with broken wires visible - we have photos of this. Therefore, the money we paid for this service was wasted.

The nurse in charge of my daughter's care that night told me they could not regularly be with my daughter because there so many 'special cases' in the ward. So if my daughter suffered a night time seizure she would be on her own and in my opinion may not survive. In view of the lack of care that I was told she would receive and the awful state of room, my family and i did not feel it was safe to leave her there and so i insisted on staying the night. The nurse told me they were relieved I was staying so my daughter would then get care through the night.

I asked the nurse to explain the care plan for my daughter and they said obs would be taken once, at the start of the night and then not again until after a seizure occurred. No obs were taken until 7am the next day.

Several times I requested a fan, because the room was so hot - the staff commented on the temperature too, but no fan as provided.

The nurse said they would come back to the room with a key to lock away my daughter's drugs. They didn't come back and I had to administer the drugs to her. When the day staff came into the room the next day to administer her drugs this was 90 minutes later than they should be given.

Before they left. a member of my family sought water for my daughter and extra pillows and blanket for me to stay. The nurse in charge did not attempt to provide any of these items.

I am not blaming individuals for the very poor care received on this ward as it is obviously a symptom of over-crowding and poor ward management. My daughter should never have been transferred to a ward that could not accommodate any of her needs. Even though my staying with her overnight was necessary, it is simply unacceptable that this level of care is given to patients.

The other parts of the hospital have been truly amazing in the treatment of my daughter but Ward A4 is truly unacceptable.