"I wanted out sooner rather than later"

This was my second admission into the Royal. First was early this year with a heart attack. Was looked after incredibly well from the paramedics who first attended, a&e staff, CCU and the ward before discharge.

My second admission was to vascular in February.  I was diagnosed with an aortic dissection after presenting at a&e with severe back pain. The treatment I received there was incredible before being moved to MAU. From there I was transferred to ICU, then HDU. My experience up to this point could not be faulted. The staff were delightful, professional and took very good care of me.

What a shock to the system it was when I was moved to ward 105. To begin with, I was moved late on, after lights were out and night staff on. I was left for what seemed like an age in a ward that I didn't know. It felt like I had been abandoned. Things were only to get worse. The ward appeared to be desperately understaffed. Patients who were unable to move pressing buzzers for assistance and waiting more than 30 minutes before a member of staff attended. On numerous occasions staff came across as being rude and impatient with some of the older ladies on my ward. I was made to feel like an inconvenience more than once. We had a lot of bank staff on the ward so not sure if this impacted on service delivery. The cleaning pads were not bagged at the bedside, instead carried through the ward and up the corridor to be bagged elsewhere. There were staff members exchanging comments that I found to be inappropriate, also one raising their voice to patients who were struggling to get out of bed, may have thought this was encouraging them but it seemingly wasn't received that way.

It was a ward I wanted out of sooner rather than later. On one occasion I had to ask a member of staff to remove a used sick bowl from my bedside. It had been left all day and all night. I would have moved it myself but was unsure where body fluids were disposed of. I was sick most days but never felt the staff had the time to check I was ok. Invariably they drew the curtain around me and it seemed just forgot about me. With hindsight I should never have gone home when I did, but I was so desperate to get out of the ward I said I was well enough to go home. I'm not sure the doctors were aware of the extent of my sickness and not eating.  I was readmitted again within the space of 2 weeks and spent a further 2 weeks in a different hospital.

It is out of character for me to complain like this and I feel bad doing it but if this can help with improving patient care and get more staff on the wards then it will be worth it.

As I stated at the very beginning the care I received before my admission to ward 105 was second to none and I have the utmost of respect and gratitude for each and every one of the staff who looked after me. I should also say that not all staff on ward 105 fall into the description I have taken time to write about but there were certainly enough to merit me putting this in writing.