"Overnight stay following a bad fracture"

I was recently admitted to ward 61 following a bad fracture. My experience in A&E was excellent, however I felt the care in the ward fell short on what I’d expect.

The majority of patients on the ward were immobile, yet none of them had been given their buzzer should they have needed help. This meant that during the night I had to personally struggle in/out of bed with a broken arm to wander into the ward to find a nurse. This happened on several occasions, and still no one was directed to use their buzzer. It felt like this was intentional, as a means to ignore the patients.

There were elderly ladies who were in significant distress, shouting out for help and being ignored. Sometimes they were trying to climb out of the bed desperate for help, which would have resulted in serious injury for them. Being a healthcare professional myself, I found this shocking to witness.

During the night I was given opiate analgesia without being asked if I had any allergies, or checking my patient details, and wasn’t given a patient ID band despite being an in-patient. I highlighted this, but still no one addressed it.

One of the elderly ladies subsequently had to be treated for hypothermia the following day, after being left lying in wet sheets, something which I hope her family complain about, as this is not acceptable care at all.

The day shift staff seemed much more attentive to the needs of the vulnerable patients on the ward, but again further medication administration was carried out without checking any details with me verbally, which would suggest poor practice across the ward environment, and not just a one-off.