"Staff communication and response to patients..."

As a relative visiting another relative on Aston Ward I found her upset and agitated saying she felt she didn’t want to stay there. I stayed for a few hours talking to her trying to find out what was happening to make her feel this way. I also had the opportunity staying this length of time to witness the routine of this ward. In the end it came down to the way certain staff were responding to her requests for help. For example my relative who I shall refer to as A felt herself getting upset so she decided to ask a nurse who I shall refer to as N for her mobile phone which was charging in the office so she could go to the quiet of her room to chat to a friend. This is the dialogue - A please may I have my phone I’m feeling upset and would like to talk to a friend in my room? ( said politely) N looks at A then walks away. A few minutes later A when you have a minute please could you fetch my phone (said politely) N I haven’t forgotten ( unsmiling and said briskly). This continues until the fifth time of asking. A is there a problem with my phone? N There is a meeting in the room I can’t get your phone ( said snappily). At which point my relative goes to her room and starts sobbing until she decides to press the alarm. First nurse to appear says what is the matter coldly and leaves after a while. My relative still distressed presses the alarm again. A different nurse comes and is less cold with her so she requests a sedative saying she needs to go to sleep. Half an hour latter she gets her pill and goes unhappily to sleep. Now how would you feel in her positio n after all this? The whole sad episode started with a simple polite request for a phone which was literally blanked! The staff nurse’s inappropriate response caused my relative’s distress. A more caring and professional response should have been something like “ I’m sorry but I can’t get your phone right now because there is a meeting where it is charging” and then a suggestion made of an alternative calming activity. This is just one example of the treatment my relative is receiving from certain staff on Aston Ward at the Lister Hospital which is a mental health unit for vulnerable people. It is no wonder that she is becoming agitated and upset and wants to leave! What really broke my heart is when she said “I feel worse now than when I was admitted.”