"Urgent admission"

I went to the A&E on Sunday at 13.00 and was seen by a doctor around 15.00. The A&E nurses took bloods and arranged an Xray. All were professional but kind. I was told I would be admitted and they had to find a bed. Around 21.00 I was taken to ward 6A, by the this time after waiting 8 hours in the A&E waiting room I was feeling very rough and had a serious infection in my knee which turned to Sepsis. I was put on IV antibiotics, but did not recover.

After 3 days I was told I would have surgery to clean out the infection, this enabled the infection to be analysed and a different antibiotic given. The consultants and anesthetist and support staff were excellent and I was returned to my bed within a couple of hours.

My temperature went down and I continued the IV meds. The ward was full all the time with a mixture of cases coming and going and the staff were very stretched, but did a great job and kept cheerful.

After 8 days I asked what was happening to me and a junior doctor came along with a sick note and said I could go home with a course of oral antibiotics. Not having slept for more than 3 hours for 7 nights, I was glad to go home. The food was good and I was well cared for. It did seem at times as if the communication between the nursing staff, doctors and other specialists was a little slow or adhoc and I had to ask for information. I also had to wait for a couple of hours to be helped to the toilet more than once, but I could see the nursing staff were very stretched. The day I was discharged I had to ask to be assessed by a physio as I had not walked unaided for a week, I think that was a bit of an oversight.

The variety and turnover of patients on the ward was striking. Young men in their 20 s to old gents who woke confused in the night, forgetting where they were and needed a lot of attention from the nurses, at least a couple of nights around 3am I listened to a nurse for an hour trying to reason with an old chap who needed to get back into bed. On the same floor was a women with dementia and her behaviour was shocking and disturbing, I pitied the staff having to deal with her as she was so aggressive and disruptive.

I really think that the work of the staff was made more difficult than it should be because there were no suitable places for elderly patients who needed special help, but not necessarily nursing care.

I am very grateful to all the staff who helped with my treatment and I admire their professionalism, competence and kindness working in very difficult conditions.