"Week stay in the hospital"

I was admitted from my GP due with Neutropenic Sepsis. I arrived as planned at A & E and had further tests. The staff at A&E were very kind and caring . They put me at ease and were very efficient. They done regular obs and IV medication was very timely . I remained in A&E in a side room until there was one available in MAU. 

A & E was noisy over night and many staff apologised for this and one checked I was ok . However there was no need for this I felt this was very kind . 

I was moved to Medical Assessment Unit . I met the nurse who is in charge of beds in the hospital. She was very warm and bubbly. 

MAU appeared a very busy ward . Interaction with nurses was reduced in comparison to A&E. The ratio of trained and Non trained staff wasn’t good. Due to the lack of staff and demand of this ward I felt this impacted on my care . It delayed me getting my medication due to staff being stretched and needing to support a variety of conditions and patients who were needing more support due to confusion . 

Moving to medical ward the level of care increased . I felt medication and obs were more timely . However , seeing one nurse in charge of a ward at a night time I felt was unsafe . 

Overall the staff were very kind and caring . The care they provided when they were able to was fantastic . But what was observed was very stretched staff. I felt bad buzzing them for help and also they would take a while to respond due to the pressures they were facing . 

I also had mixed messages on when I was going home . I was going home by one Dr then not by the next. I feel unless you know that you are going home for sure this shouldn’t be passed onto the patient . This builds hope and excitement followed by let down. Our mental health is just as important in a hospital and was something I found the hardest . Being in isolation and as mother of two young children being told you will be going home and this goal post moved on 3 occasions was difficult . However the days I had no expectation my mindset was different and I was able to be more positive about my day. 

Overall I am very grateful for the support and being able to leave healthy. I was switched wards at early hours of the morning on two occasions this is difficult when sleep is an important part of recovery but aware at times this can’t be helped . However , these moves do impact things such as bloods I got every morning which would impact whether I got home or not . Communication is vital and should be when being moved wards . 

The phlebotomist was a lady with dark hair and she was just lovely!  

Thanks again for the care and hopefully in the very near future we see these issue’s addressed but aware this is a larger problem but wanted to raise my experience.