"My sister was admitted into Northwick ..."

What could be improved

My sister was admitted into Northwick Park Hospital 2 months ago for suspected appendicitus or cysts, (she had been in pain for over a month and was finally referred by her doctor to NPH), NPH decided to remove her appendix. When she was brought to the hospital she was placed on a bed which had blood on the sheets but rather than replace the dirty sheets, the nurse just plonked a clean one on top of the bloody sheets.

Since having her appendix removed, she has been in constant pain and not being able to eat or drink without throwing up so she was readmitted again 3 weeks ago for scans to be scheduled to look at what the original cause of her pain was. The ward she is in now is much cleaner but her scans are being cancelled and re-scheduled constantly, and she is now having anti-clotting medication everyday due her having to wait longer.

This means her appendix op was not necessary!! She's a 17 year old girl, who is doing a BTEC in sport and has been not able to attend her course for over 3 months due to the delays! She is also losing so much weight since this op she now weights just under 5st, which NPH doctors seem to assume is down to Bulimia or Anorexia as they keep placing on her medical records which she finds offensive.

She is apparantly due to have another scan this week as her body recovers from a camera being placed down her throat last week, but we have no confidence in the hospital anymore due to broken promises from the staff.

We are still non the wiser about my sisters condition, and I think its appalling that they can allow a young girl be in so much pain for so long.

Anything else?

The hospital has had a bad reputation for a long time, the cleanliness is an issue in some wards. I think that rather than invest in opening Costa Coffee shops, more could be invested in proper or more cleaners and more medical staff available, its certainly clear that the staff are overworked and demoralized hence the attitude of many of the staff at Northwick Park Hospital.