"HORIZON WARD HORSHAM HOSPITAL"

Anything else?

My grandmother was transferred to Horizon Ward from East Surrey Hospital for recovery and respite care following breaking her hip from a fall and having a suspected TIA. I have to say that I cannot fault the general cleanliness of the hospital. However, I do have issues regarding the care that she is currently receiving. The ward is heavily understaffed - a factor that is readily acknowledged by the ward staff and a reason that is often used to 'justify' lapses in patient care. It is clear that the staff are struggling to cope with the volume of patients. I regularly observe incidents where patient's call buttons are sounding away for ages and left completely un-answered; and patients soiling themselves because the help they requested to use the toilet or a commode never arrives. The quality of care received by my grandmother could be better. I understand the pressures that staff are under and the budgets that hospitals have to work to, but for her to be left un-supervised at times when she is most vulnerable is not good enough. We have twice had telephone calls in the evening to say that she has fallen over and hurt herself. The last time she had fallen off a commode after being left unsupervised and forgotten about by night staff. There has been little communication from staff with regards to her physiotherapy treatment. I just hope that they are actually working with her in this area and not just leaving her. All the patients in the ward tend to spend their time either lying in bed, or sitting in a chair, starring blankly into space. There is very little, if anything, to stimulate their minds. The levels of boredom they experience in the ward must be off the scale. There is no air conditioning inside the ward so in the summer it gets very, very hot. Believe me it is not pleasant! The garden areas of the hospital are beautiful and very well looked after. They are nice areas for patients to recuperate in - that is if they are well enough to get outside.