"The staff in C18 were always friendly, ..."

What I liked

The staff in C18 were always friendly, caring and helpful.

What could be improved

Allocate more staff to each ward. The buzzers were pressed for assistance many times throughout my stay and patients, including myself had to wait up to 20 minutes for a response because the staff were so busy caring for other patients. The nurses were always rushed off their feet.

The cleanliness – the bathroom on the ward was not cleaned properly throughout the length of my stay (9 days!).

I had to ask the cleaner (after they finished their round, to clean the bathroom floor as I had been sick. The response was “I can’t see anything”!

Also, could I just point out at this time that the cleaners regularly use the same cloth to wipe the ward sink, work tops, bedside tables, windowsills etc. By the time they got round to me in bed 4 I declined there services!

You don’t have to see dirt to know it’s there.

I spoke to the cleaning supervisor regarding my concerns and also questioned the ‘jelly’ in the sink plug hole, which I was reliably informed had been there a week before my admission, and was told a plunger had already been tried but did not work. The matter was “in hand”. I suggested an old brush and a bit of elbow grease!

If a supervisor doesn’t know how to clean what hope is there!

That said, the supervisor checked the bathroom, carried out the obligatory ‘flush’ of the toilet and ignored the human excrement that was clearly visible on the wall and in front of the toilet that day. Unfortunately an old lady had had an accident that morning, 3 hrs later, as I was discharged; I had to ask a nurse to request that the bathroom be cleaned as the supervisor had not been bothered to arrange it.

I think it’s time to go full circle and bring back Ward Sisters with full responsibility for the whole ward.

Anything else?

Cancel Contract Cleaning immediately. Employ people within the hospital who care about their job, the hospital and it's reputation and of course the patients who are being cared for there. Increase staff levels so the nurses have time to deal with you and prescribe medication when it's actually due rather than when they are able to get round to it. Bring back Ward Sisters who are in charge and responsible for the whole ward.