"Medical ward"

My elderly father was admitted to the medical ward very unwell and quite anxious. There was a long wait to be seen,but when the doctor arrived he was excellent.

The nursing staff were not so good.

Shortly after admission it became apparent that there had been a death on the ward before our arrival.

Two hca's went into the bed space and started the procedure of last offices. They were joined by another hca who loudly asked what time the patient died. We were then privy to the deceased's name, age and time of death. Totally in breach of data protection . The hca's discussed which toe to tie the label on. The deceased was not afforded the dignity required.

One hca left the bay three times and collected clean linen etc without removing her gloves. Infection control procedures were not evident at all.

I couldn't fault the medical care but the nursing care was not good. One evening my father rang his bell for 30 minutes for assistance to go from the day room back to his bed. Nobody came. I collected the lifting equipment and a wheelchair and transferred him myself. I passed several nurses and hca's on the way to his bed, who didn't seem to mind me doing this despite the risk. I got to his bed to find a nurse with a newspaper spread out having a read.

There was a sense that the central area on the ward, where the staff congregate, held more interest than the bays.