"The good and the absolutely unacceptable"

My 94-year old mother was in Ward 17 last week for 5 nights and whilst there developed cellulitis in her left arm. This meant she could not use her arm at all as it was incredibly painful. I was appalled when I arrived to find her in a side room left lying on her painful arm and without the alarm cord connected and with the doors shut. She had been crying with pain and unable to attract anyone's attention. An antibiotic was left on her bedside table in a paper dispenser. The bedside table was placed by her affected side which meant she could not reach her water. The next day I then witnessed a member of staff taking her blood pressure on the same affected arm causing my mother excruciating pain. When I challenged this I was told that this had been done previously - as though somehow this made it right.

I was frustrated at how often I could not find a member of staff who could tell me about my mother because the only person who was in charge of her care that day was on a break.

But there were some shining stars of compassion and caring among other members of staff. These people went beyond the call of duty to be kind and gentle to my mother. I take my hat off to these.