"They don't like visitors"

East Beaconsfield Ward is designated as a Rehab ward and there are official web pages which describe the wonderful building. Unfortunately in my experience, "rehab" for my father consisted of mainly remaining in bed, with the occasional supervised trip down the corridor on a zimmer frame. Not what we or he expected. It was disappointing that in a ward of elderly people some of whom had cognition problems, any visits from family were limited to one visit per day lasting no more than two hours, which I would call callous and very depressing for the patients. Information to the patient and his family about his care plan and criteria for discharge was scant or non-existent. We asked for advice about manual handling so that we could cope with the patient at home and that advice was promised but never given. The patient was miserable throughout his stay and kept asking us what was the purpose of his continued stay in the ward and when he could go home, questions which we thought reasonable but were not equipped to answer. On his discharge, the ward failed to give an adequate assessment of his needs to our GP, making it rather harder for us to obtain the necessary support from the GP and palliative team. I will not be pursuing any formal complaint. I have heard that other wards, other departments in this hospital provide excellent service.