"Good care but toilets and showers need attention"

I am happy to be home after three weeks in Raigmore Hospital wards 4c & 6a, although I am still not feeling well. I have nothing but praise for all the staff who do their very best when so overworked, understaffed and underpaid.

My main complaint is about the toilets and showers which are totally inadequate and unfit for purpose. One toilet being used by six patients per ward would not be passed by health and safety standards.

I was suffering from violent diarrhoea and sickness and struggled to reach the toilet in time. Sometimes another patient was already seated and although I tried to clean up my mess others did not or could not do so.  The smell in the confined space was revolting at times and there was little point of complaining as there was no one available to keep cleaning.

The shower most of the time was not working properly, i.e. the water was not contained in the tray because the drain was partially blocked so the water flooded into the outside space and into the ward too. I complained as did other patients and also the staff frequently and after several days two plumbers came.

Of course I realise that the NHS has little spare money and that my complaint is nobody's fault. I watched all the very thorough cleaning after each patient was discharged but that does not seem to match the poor standard of the toilet facilities. I wrote a very similar complaint in 2016 when I had a hip replacement, it was very successful. I still have the polite reply which agreed that my complaint was justified and the improvements were starting soon on the ground floor and working upwards.

On a more humorous note my bed was not far from the toilet doors which creaked very loudly every time the doors opened or closed so I asked my husband to oil them. Everyone was delighted!