"An appalling hospital - the so called..."

What I liked

An appalling hospital - the so called managers need to have a look round the wards themselves to see how things are being run & to take on board comments from relatives.

Nursing staff need to be trained to communicate with relatives to keep them informed regarding the care & medical treatment of patients. Patients should be made more welcome on the wards & at least shown where the facilities are (topilets, wash rooms etc etc).

My dad was put on a contingency ward which was staffed by bank nurses - so you didn't get the same nurse 2 days running. My dad was dying at the time from terminal cancer & he needed medical help - I know for a fact he should have been put on a medical ward & not the contingency ward where there was no medical help & also no doctors present.

When my dad desparately needed a drip as he was so dehydrated they couldn't even find a drip stand for him. And because of their being no continuity of nursing they hadn't realised he had become so dehydrated although they knew he hadn't been able to eat properly for 7 weeks prior to admission.

The one ray of light a fantastic Macmillan Nurse who my dad got referred to after 4 days of being just left on the contingeny ward. She was wonderful & ensured he was put on a drip & a syringe driver for his pain. She knew immediately what he needed & made sure he got medical treatment. I have no idea why the other nurses couldn't see that he needed help.

What could be improved

Standard uniforms to denote staff nurses, ward sisters, physios etc etc - at the moment they all wear the same & you have no idea who you are talking to on the wards. Doctors wear civvies - so again they are hard to identify.

Communication with relatives - stop hiding behind patient confidentiality when it is clear that the patient is too ill to ask for information about their medical situation for themselves. Involving the relatives & providing information can greatly enhance a patients experience.

Too many staff standing around chatting about their weekends instead of concentrating on the job in had. Break time in a break room is the time & place to chat. It is extremely frustrating for both patients & relatives to witness this when the medical care is at times very poor.

When discharging a patient it is not acceptable to discharge them without any information appertaining to the reasons as to why they were admitted in the 1st place. My dad was admitted because he was vomitting blood & his GP admitted him to find out why - he was discharged the following day with no information whatsoever regarding this & the junrro doctor when asked couldn't understand my dads notes & couldn't give us any explanations. The hopsital then shut for 3 days because of the August bank holiday - my dad was at home by then extremely ill & suffering & we couldn't speak to anyone until the Tuesday to try & get his some medical help. Shame on you Arrowepark - you discharged a terminally ill patient without any help or any referrals to community palliative care & basically left him to rot.