I arrived in A&E and was moved to the clinical decisions unit. Both of these departments were great, with friendly staff that kept me well informed. As soon as I was moved up to 4 south however this all changed. I stayed there for seven days and was discharged in a much worse state than I arrived and without a real diagnosis. With the exception of about four members of staff (I'm sure they know who they are!) was treated with complete disregard and on many occasions was made to feel as though my medical problems were my fault and that I was inconveniencing the doctors and nurses. Two of the doctors even made me cry! The majority of the staff didn't introduce themselves, didn't tell me what medication I was getting or why, and my ward was often ignored for hours at a time. There were many elderly patients on my ward who were left in their own urine and excrement for hours (except on the days we were lucky enough to have one of the rare nice staff) and went hours without water as there was no one there to give it to them. In terms of cleanliness the first night I arrived I had to clean the toilet seat before use as it was coated in congealed urine, and on another occasion there was excrement all over the toilet floor. Once reported to the nurse it was almost 30mins before anyone came to clean it. The ward 'management' was only seen once in a week, when they came in to talk to a nurse and ignored all the patients- refusing to even make eye contact. The food was completely inedible to the point that I had to order sandwiches for every meal. My canular was kept in for seven days, despite requests to the nurses to change it. I could see the plaster peeling off and getting dirty, yet each time they just taped over it. Ultimately it came out of the vein and has left me with a solid lump in my arm just above where it was. Overall this ward has no respect for its patients and it was the worst week of my life. The communication between the staff was non-existant and I still don't understand why I was on this ward as my condition was not respiratory. Avoid at all costs!
"Disgusting treatment in 4 South"
About: Charing Cross Hospital Charing Cross Hospital London W6 8RF
Posted via nhs.uk
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