"Extremely disappointed!"

My main issue is with the pharmacy which after I had been discharged from the Lister at 13:30, had not yet received my medication by 21:00 that night.

I was sent to the ward 7B North on the evening of Thursday, 19 October 2017 after being admitted to the Surgical Assessment Unit (SAU) at 01:30 on Thursday 19 Oct. They finally found a bed for me at 04:30 three hours later. Bearing in mind that I had been at the A&E from 15:45 on the afternoon of Wednesday 18 October 2017 with pain and discomfort, that means a whole 12 and a bit hours which I had spent sitting on a chair waiting!.

While the wait in the A&E was extremely long, the staff were incredible! Everyone who dealt with myself were extremely friendly, caring, compassionate and professional. The care and service I received from staff at the SAU was equally really good and the environment was really clean, welcoming and comfortable. The doctors, surgeon and nurses were all very friendly, helpful, reassuring and professional.

After undergoing a CT scan I was transferred to the ward 7B North. It felt as though I was walking into a totally different hospital!

My initial impression of the ward was that of utter shock! I could not get over how dirty and untidy the place appeared. I actually told my wife to take my bag off the window shelf as i did not want my bag to get infected or dirty. It was filthy!! thick with black dust and dirt. The skirting along the floor were dark with dirt. The floor looked grubby. Generally speaking totally unacceptable for hospital conditions. Who knows what bugs are growing there? Talk about infection control!

Shortly after arriving I needed to use to toilet. To my horror, I found the toilet even dirtier! The toilet seat was also totally broken off its hinges and totally lose. I was too afraid to sit as I feared slipping off and hitting my head on the side basin. I took a paper towel and wiped a bit of the floor just to see what it was like. Needless to say - absolutely filthy black!! There were also blood spots on the floor. near the toilet basin. Again - a major concern for infection control!

I had also experienced issues with my cannula but was brushed off by staff when I asked about it. I was blamed for blocking my drip due to bending my arm when all along it was the regulator which had not been set correctly.

When i pressed the call-bell no one responded. pressed a total of 12 times over a time of 40 minutes.

The day staff discovered the bell was not working.

When I used the shower, I noticed it was not clean and certainly had not been cleaned properly for a number of days - perhaps weeks!

When I reported my concern to the staff it was again just laughed off. Again a serious concern over infection control and patient health and safety!

The night staff were not professional.

The day staff were brilliant!! They dealt with my concerns immediately when I raised them.

It was them who discovered that the call bell above my bed was not working.