"My terrible experience of Capetown Ward"

I stayed on this ward for 5 weeks and witnessed some very distressing treatment of other patients. This was things like the call bell being constantly ignored for up to 45 minutes at a time causing great distress to patients. Nurses being very rude and abrupt, particularly at night. People left unwashed and beds unmade often until after lunch. Ladies with pads being left so long they were soaked, freezing cold and urine leaked onto the floor. The cleanliness was very bad, for example, my table was never washed unless I wiped it myself with a cloth. Towels were always in short supply. The staff on the ward were clearly unhappy, I think the leadership was weak. Handover in the eve took up to 2 hours and the nurses were often chatting on the evenings even when a bell was ringing for ages. My medication that had to be given at 4 hourly intervals was regularly missed or late resulting in my blood pressure dropping too low. There were a handful of staff who were really good, and I always felt relived if one if them was on duty, but the rest were grumpy, unfriendly, uncaring. As a younger patient on this ward I just kept my head down, tried no to upset any nurse and was desperate to get out. The showers and toilets were not cleaned well at weekends, and there were often no tea or coffee rounds mid morning or evening. I have worked in healthcare for a number of years and was truly horrified about what I witnessed. I was also an inpatient at the Royal free and there was a huge difference in all aspects. It's taken me over 18 months to write something down, as I felt unable to do so initially.