"SAU Ward, the good, bad and erm.... ugly"

I was admitted to the SAU ward where I spent 24 hours before being moved elsewhere.

The Good: Staff were very keen to see to the needs of their patients. I got everything I needed there the professionalism and efficiency was high. It took a while for a surgical consultant to see me but they did.

The Bad: The staff were overworked IMO. If you needed anything out of their routine it was hard to get it. Also the ward is in dire need of refurbishment. It does seem a bit of a sinkhole. Although the staff are willing I don't think communication is great.

Also patients who are able, should be encouraged to exercise more. The emphasis seems to be on blood thinning medication to prevent clots. You don't see long haul flight operators offering them to passengers.

The Ugly: Open containers of other patients' urine left in the toilets! Yes University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust, you did read this correctly. The current practice when a patient is asked for a urine sample is for the nurses to ask them to leave it in one of the only two toilets on the ward. One assumes the nurses will remove them immediately, No they are left to remain for all to see, this is especially acute for the female open containers that seem to adorn the toilet (complete with urine and things in there that I'd rather not speculate upon) rather like a post apocalyptic bonsai pond exhibition.

Now, I don't know if anyone reading this has stood in a room approx 2m square with 3 other people's urine evaporating into the breathable atmosphere, but I can tell you it never was one of my bucket list experiences.

Twice I pointed out that I needed to use the toilet for its intended purpose and both were had urine samples left in this way.

On the first occation the nurse at the nurses station apologised and removed it immediately.

On the second occasion the lady at the station who I thought was a nurse by her uniform laughed and said she would get someone to do it. I didn't see the funny side myself, maybe I was having an off day.

I waited and checked back a couple of times over a 20 minutes or so. I'd had enough to I interrupted a conversation between a healthcare assistant and I assume the ward sister and asked for them to be removed explaining I had been waiting sometime.

The young healthcare assistant acted immediately. But what concerns me is that she didn't seem bothered that patients under her care were having to use the facilities in this condition. There was no apology.