"The doctors on the whole treated ..."

What I liked

The doctors on the whole treated my father with respect and appeared to be genuinely interested in him and in his care unlike the nursing staff.

What could be improved

My father was admitted to a general ward in March 2009 after suddenly becoming very ill. Because of his illness he was confused and did not always make sense of what was happening around him. I found the care staff, with the exception of the doctors, to be rude and uncaring. My father was treated as an inconvenience if he asked for any help whatsoever. My observations were that this was normal for the patients. The staff sat at the nursing desk particulary through the night chatting and ordering take aways with no regard for the need for patients to have some quiet in order to sleep. Simple requests made by patients were ignored and generally came with a response of "I'm busy I'll see to you when I've got time". When waiting on a trolley in A&E for over three hours with my father I listened to the conversation between two nurses of the make, colour, cost, design etc of some curtains just purchased. When I interupted the conversation to ask for a blanket for my fathers and he asked for it to be put on his feet he was told do you think this is a hotel. We were one of only two patients on A&E at that time. My observations of my fathers stay in the hospital at that time are on the whole negative, the nursing staff could really not have cared less.

Anything else?

My observations relate to A&E and a genneral ward - I can not remember the particular number. I had entirely different experiences on Ward 18. The staff group on ward 18 were absolutely fantastic with my father, if they can do it why can't other wards and departments.