"I'm still alive! Inpatient sometime ago..."

What I liked

I'm still alive! Inpatient sometime ago now, but had had to comment when I heard characters in the TV programme Casualty talking about setting up something called a CDU!

God help anybody who enters one of these Clinical Decsions Units, especailly if it is like the one at Pilgrim Hospital. As well as being part of the tricks played by the management to get people off of the A&E books within the target times, it is also like some sort of punishment ward. Horrible decor, auwful beds/trolleys (SLABS more like) matched only by the nigthmarish staff. Waited 3 hours for a bed that I was told was available from the moment I arrived, very cold but couldn't get a blanket because they were short of them, waited 30 minutes for a sick bowl and finally had to stagger to the toilets to throw up even though I could hardly walk due to severe pain due to a wound infection in the stomach.

Staff will tell you they were so very, very , very busy! What they were, was completely unprofessional, undisciplined, lazy and totally disinterested in the welfare of those they claim to be caring for. The days of Angels in Uniform are long gone to be replaced by people who have taken the job either because it was the only one going in the area or they have been doing it so long they can't be bothered to look for anything else.

What could be improved

It's all abou the staff, even the so called matrons are now a waste of space when it comes to the discipline and behaviour of the staff.