"There is nothing good about this ..."

We are sorry to hear that you did not have a better experience at St Peter’s Hospital and thank you for your feedback. We try to accommodate every patient who needs to be admitted to our hospitals, even when we are running at full capacity, to avoid a transfer to another hospital which is often further from home and inconvenient for the patient and their visitors.

One way we do this is by opening extra bays in wards such as the Surgical Assessment Unit (SAU) when they are needed. In effect, these are clinically suitable ‘overflow’ areas which can be quickly set up with beds and used to accommodate inpatients. We appreciate they may not look as established as the main bays on a ward and often have fewer beds occupied, but we would like to assure patients that we endeavor to provide the same standard of care wherever they are accommodated and that our staff will ensure an adequate level of monitoring is carried out. The intensity of staffing in different areas of a ward will depend on the number of patients they are caring for and their individual clinical needs.

We would like to apologise about the breakdown in communication over your lunch and have re-iterated to our staff how important it is to remember the basics of care, such as ensuring each patient receives a meal as a matter of course regardless of the circumstances. We encourage any patient who feels they are not dealt with in a polite and respectful manor to ask to speak to a senior member of staff, so immediate action can be taken. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss your concerns in more detail and you can contact our Patient Advise and Liaison Service (PALS) on 01932 723553.