"Not good enough W21& LTHTR "

As Sister who works for the trust I feel very uncomfortable leaving this review. But feel if issues are not highlighted then improvements will never happen.

My father was an inpatient on ward 21 last weekend. He is 78 yrs old and has never been an inpatient. He was brought in via A&E Saturday morning and transferred to ward 21. He was frightened, alone and in your care.

On arrival he said he was placed in a dirty scruffy room where the bed not made and was offered no lunch. He was was made to make do with “toast” . Later in the afternoon I dropped off for him his overnight bag along with a sandwich and refreshments as he was hungry and thirsty. Teatime arrived and meals delivered but there was nothing for my father. The staff had forgotten about him. When staff alerted by him he was offered “toast” once again! Rightly so my father declined and requested a hot meal and said he was hungry! With great reluctance and rolling of eyes the nurse said she would “see what she could do” . Apparently a meal did arrive eventually which he couldn’t eat as it looked and tasted disgusting.

The following day I telephoned the ward requesting an update on my father. The HCA took my number and nurse looking after him never had the courtesy to call me back. He was eventually moved to a bay following day and the HCA that helped move his belongs apparently put his fingers on the inside of the plastic water cup and his cup of tea ??? My father didn’t want to make a fuss and said nothing.

I rang the ward once again the following day for an update - message was left but yet again the nurse never rang me back. My father was finally allowed home after 4 days. He phoned me in the morning to say he was waiting for a final Doppler test then if that was clear he could come home. Good enough everything was clear and he was given a 90 min window for TTO’s (meds to take home). I arrived promptly after 90 mins and pharmacy had not arrived - after 45 mins waiting my father told me that he had not been given any fresh water since the day before either and I saw the empty jug and plastic cup on his bedside table. Eventually the pharmacist arrived with her trolley full of meds. Annoyingly My father’s medication was missing from the order! The nurse told me that she didn’t know how long it would take and asked me to call back for it. I requested it to be sent to Chorley but that was dismissed as she said it was in progress at RPH. These are critical drugs that my father needed to take before 8am. Which meant I had to make the journey from Chorley to RPH by 07:30 .

All in all I feel upset that the trust has let my father down. When I nurse I nurse my Patients as if they are my family members. Where were the 6 c’s and trust values ??? Yet again the discharge process failed. Come on LTHTR - the high standards in ward 21 that once was have certainly slipped.