"It would have been better to have a private room"

Firstly I would like to say thank you to the consultants and staff in this unit for their care, compassion and communication when caring for my mum, especially David(consultant) and Natasha and Sarah who were especially great with us during a very difficult time.

Unfortunately, after all the care that was provided, there was nothing else the team could do and my mum had the ventilator removed and passed away a few hours later. Although in the final hours, the staff were very attentive and respectful, my mum was in a cubicle area on the ward and as a family, we did not feel this was very private for us or for the patients in the cubicles next to mums. We were trying to keep things as light-hearted as mum would have wanted it and a nurse was doing the same which was great, but we were advised by a Dr to be a bit quieter as there were other patients. This comment is no reflection on the staff, but if possible, if families are spending their last hours with a loved one, it would have been better if this had been in a private room. We were conscious about what we were saying and what other patients were hearing.

Once mum passed, again the nursing staff were great. Very supportive. The doctor who came to see us appeared quite nervous and after passing on condolences advised us they would need to carry out a ‘checklist” to confirm death. This might have been the case but the word ‘checklist’ felt a bit impersonal. They also advised that they were not sure about how to complete the death certificate and would require to get a secretary to check it the next morning. Also did not not seem familiar with the process after death as we were advised we would require to come in the next day and collect the certificate, only to be told the next day this wasn’t the case.

I totally appreciate that staff need to learn and this staff member was generally very nice, but appeared quite awkward and not very confident which did not fill us with confidence following mum's death. I think it might have been better for learning and experience to have other staff alongside for support. This is not a criticism of this staff member, but after losing someone it would have made us feel more reassured if this had been handled differently with a bit more knowledge and experience. The staff in this unit (ward 118) do a brilliant and difficult job and we can’t thank them enough for everything they did for mum and for us as a family.