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Care Opinion

A review of two parts

Story from nhs.uk

"A review of two parts"

About: Leighton Hospital

In arrival in A&E my husband was treated quickly and with respect. They were so busy and it was dreadful to see poorly people waiting in the corridors- this hospital is no longer big enough to deal with the amount of people coming through it’s doors! The staff though very very busy were always polite and kept us informed. My husband was admitted to Ward 3 and what a difference- the ward looked cluttered and untidy and a ratio was blasting dance music courtesy of Signal 1 as people- mostly elderly- were poorly in bed. Totally inappropriate yet when commented on the assistant didn’t see anything wrong. The patients notes were kept on a trolley in the corridor for all to see and patients details discussed loudly in earshot if anyone who cared to listen. Staff talked loudly and without consideration. The staff that arrived to take over from the night staff chatted in the corridors again with no consideration to those feeling poorly. There were no smiles, or polite greetings yet there was also no sign of being busy- just a lot of wandering in and out and not doing anything! A patient was taken for a scan and the assistant looked at his ruffled bed and walked off leaving it untidy for his return - she then stood in the corridor chatting to another assistant for about 5 mins. The drinks trolley came around- the lady slouched around and called everyone love- but ignored the two visitors there. Not even a helllo! Discharge took 4 hours! Waiting for a one box of tablets and a discharge letter whilst in A&E they were still waiting for beds! It was so disorganised and felt grubby with a lingering smell that certainly wasn’t a clean one! We appreciate the care however this hospital desperately needs improving.

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Responses

Response from Leighton Hospital 5 years ago
Leighton Hospital

Submitted on 03/01/2019 at 08:37
Published on nhs.uk at 09:05

Thank you so much for taking the time to share the positive experience you and your husband had in A and E. It means such a lot to the staff to know that even on the busiest days, patients are communicated with effectively and professionally.

Belinda Dean

Lead Nurse for Emergency Department

We are very sorry to hear about the issues you encountered on Ward 3. Recently we have not had a House Keeper on the ward area to ensure that the environment remains clutter free and organised. Issues surrounding this were looked at last week and we have now  allocated more resource into Ward 3 which started yesterday to rectify these issues.

We have also escalated the cleanliness of the ward to our Domestic team who from today will be allocating further domestics to this area and will focus heavily on Ward 3 during the Christmas period as they have additional staff to be able to provide more cleaning support.

We are very disappointed to hear about the staff attitude and this is something that we take very seriously. The Trusts Visions, Values and Behaviours are being reiterated to staff members and the Matron is providing an increased presence to ensure staff display the behaviours that are expected of them here at the Trust.

The wards within the Trust do have the use of radios as this is often requested by our patients. However checks will be made that any requests are made from patients and not staff members and that the music is appropriate at the time and is not disturbing other patients within the area.

Ward 3 are able to discharge patients directly from the ward area but this is dependent on when the doctor is able to complete the discharge letter and the type of medication that is required for the patient to go home with. Should the prescription be needed to go to the Pharmacy department, then this will increase the time that our patients have to wait for their discharge medication. We totally understand the frustration this can cause and we are very sorry for the delay you experienced. Again we apologise for the  service you received and we hope that this goes some way to reassure you that your concerns have been taken seriously.

Rachel Wilkinson,

Matron for Emergency Care

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