"Poor conditions for care at Royal Gwent"

Wife arrived at D5 East for surgery.

Strong smell of urine in waiting room. Told that wait for a bed could be up to 6 hours. Patients and visitors mixed in waiting room, some in dirty work clothes. Patients in surgical gowns told to wait in unhygenic waiting room before going down to surgery.

Wife finally gets a bed after 4 hours wait. No electrics working on ward and nurse call buttons not working. During the night, patients had to walk to nursing station (After Surgery) to get attention. One patient had accidently diconnected her morphine drip and the alarm was sounding. She eventually had to walk to the nurses station to get assistance.

The ward was in our opinion understaffed but the main nurse on duty gave exemplary care despite the failures of equipment and understaffing. The consultant/Surgeon and surgical staff were all pleasant and efficient.