"Patient crying to be repositioned in bed..."

We were visiting a relative on ward 8a when the lady in the bed next to her began calling out for help. She was asking for her head to be raised as she said her back was painful. Her cries were ignored by staff . This went on for some 45 mins. She was very distressed and was crying.

I asked her if I could help. She asked me to put a pillow under her head due to her position in the bed which she said was hurting her back. I did not want to reposition her myself and went in search of a member of staff. It was five minutes past visiting time and as I approached the staff desk a member of staff grumbled that we as visitors should leave. I explained that this lady had been calling out for help for a considerable period and was in tears. I was curtly told that this lady had been repositioned earlier in the day and that I should not be telling staff how to do their job. I repeated that the lady was in tears and was uncomfortable now. The fact that she was repositioned several hours ago did not negate the fact that she was currently in pain. The member of staff marched on to the ward and without asking the lady how she was repeated that she had been repositioned earlier in the day hence should not be uncomfortable and demanded we leave. This behaviour did not fill me with confidence that vulnerable people would be cared for or that this member of staff had their best interests at heart. It is very worrying and scary for relatives to have to leave their loved ones with such an uncaring person.