"Awareness of psychological needs and..."

What I liked

My father aged 89 and suffering from Alzheimers suffered a stroke in December 2010. He was admitted to ward 11 and then, after a few weeks transferred to ward 110. Throughout his stay the nursing staff did their best but they were clearly short staffed and it seemed morale was rather low. There appeared to be little time to focus upon the psychological and spiritual needs of my father. I think it would have been useful if we'd been asked more about him, but again, I suspect this opportunity was limited by the sheer pressure put upon the nursing staff by the everyday demands. There were some very sensitive and caring nursing staff, qualified and unqualified and this was particularly evident the night he died where we were all treated with great respect. There were occasions when I wondered about the hygiene standards e.g. various foods and drinks left on his bedside table for sometime with dirty spoons etc..Bearing in mind that the winter vomitting virus was around at the time this did seem a little worrying.

Overall it was clear the nursing staff were hard working and caring in what is a difficult and less secure NHS.