"The nursing staff (or predominantly ..."

What I liked

The nursing staff (or predominantly agency staff!!) were excellent and helpful.

What could be improved

Everything else! Absolutely no communication to the patient (88 year old lady with fully functioning brain, ears and mouth). Over two weeks in to her stay no diagnosis had been offered or care discussed. No doctor in charge of the ward and no-one of any seniority to talk to.

No-one offered any information and I constantly battled to find out what was happening. Her deterioration from active person who was driving and cooking for herself, to a frightened, confused very thin shell is scary.

She was left on the toilet for over an hour one day, and was regularly told she was moving but not to where or when it would happen. This in fact was not true, and resulted in constant disappointment. We hear national stories all the time about poor care of the elderly, and I'm afraid my experience here supports everything I've read. Don't abandon your elderly relatives to this hospital!

Anything else?

The problem seems to be that all the assessment wards are full, so patients are shipped out to other non-specific wards. The wards are not managed by medical staff but by administrators who are impossible to speak to.

Patients need a care plan and an appointed person for them and their families to talk to.