"Very good standard of care"

What I liked

My mother was on Cloudesley Ward for 7 weeks. The staff were very kind and very patient, and spent a lot of time making their elderley patients as comfortable as possible. The staff were very considerate towards patients and visitors and the atmosphere on the ward was very pleasant - all of this despite staff shortages. The occupational therapist and the physio were very good with their patients and did everything they could both to help my mother and to keep the family informed about what was going on. Generally all the staff involved in my mother's care - doctors, nurses and specialist nurses, OT and physios seemed to work well together.

What could be improved

Although on the whole co-ordination was good, there were occasional breakdowns in communication - confusion over discharge dates and whether or not rehabilitation was appropriate. The discharge process was not brilliantly managed - my mother's discharge was delayed by a day much to her disappointment, and it was very difficult to find out why this had happened or who I should contact. It would by helpful if discharge planning could speak directly to the patient/family and explain the process, and provide contact numbers for the agencies responsible for ongoing care after discharge. Also my mother was given a bag of medications to take home. As her carers will only give medication if it is boxed by time of day, I had to sort the medicines out myself. This was not a problem - but would have been if there had been no-one there to help her. Elderly or confused patients should be given their medication in a docet box on discharge.

Anything else?

The standard of care was very high and there were some wonderful nurses and therapists on the ward whom I cannot praise enough.Discharge processRehabilitationCommunicationConsideratePatient careEnvironmentConsultantsDoctorsNursing staffPhysiotherapistsTherapists