"My mother's final week at Stoke Mandeville"

Our 89-year old mother spent a week in Stoke Mandeville Hospital in May 2014, following a fall and was treated for hypothermia and pneumonia. She arrived in A&E on Sunday and moved to Ward 10 later that day where she stayed until Friday. She was then relocated to Ward 7 where she sadly passed away on Sunday morning.

We were with her during all of the visiting times, late into Thursday evening and then continuously from Friday morning until Sunday.

At every step of our journey, she (and we) were treated with respect, care, and efficiency. All of the nursing staff we met were polite, kind, gentle and generous with their time – I never saw any of them impatient or brusque and yet they were busy. Our mother also remarked on their kindness on several occasions.

We had the impression that there was an excellent team spirit and strong work ethic amongst the staff. There was also careful attention to hygiene and regular cleaning. We were left in no doubt that both wards 7 and 10 were run in accordance with the list of Cs that was prominently displayed.