"Poor nursing. "

My father in law was admitted to Sunderland Royal Hospital ward E53. I found the medical staff to be very good. Good at communicating and caring.

Some of the nursing staff on the other hand were unprofessional and very uncaring.

My father in law was put onto the Liverpool care pathway and it was explained by the doctor who was very good.

After this discussion we were asked if there was anything we wanted so I requested a side room as his breathing was noisy and thought it would be more pleasant for us and him and the other patients. This was on the Saturday and we were told by a male staff nurse that the bed manager said there wouldn't be one available until Monday which as he was only to survive until Monday seemed a bit late. I suggested another ward or moving out a fitter patient but said that was not feasible. A room did come available on the Sunday however. I did wonder if he would ever have got a room if I hadn't pestered.

He was having sedation as he was rather agitated at times so I asked the nurse at the nurses station if he could have some and be turned at the same time. 40 minutes later it hadn't arrived so my husband went to ask again and the nurse said she hadn't been to get it due to being too busy. It arrived in the next 5 mins. I feel it is too long to wait, thankfully it wasn't analgesia. We asked for him to be turned as it had been 6 hours she said she would be back. 10 mins later she did not appear so we did it ourselves. When she did appear, I wasn't very happy and asked her how often she thought he should be moved and she said 4 hourly even though 6 hours had lapsed. He certainly wasn't given 4 hourly turns for pressure care.

Ways in which they could improve care: - when the doctor takes the family into a room and discusses the Liverpool Pathway, a nurse should also be present so that she can tell you what the nursing care pathway will be. What we were promised from the doctor about the nursing care was certainly not the case. Once he was deemed as terminal, we never saw nurses for dust.

When in a side room with a dying, patient relatives need support as well. A nurses head put round the door every hour or so to see if the patient is ok wouldn't kill them surely and would show caring and compassion for others which apparently is sadly missing in the trained nurses.

The sister appeared on the Monday on the ward. Her desk was opposite the room we were in. She never once came to introduce herself or look in on my father in law which I thought was very unprofessional and uncaring. The other nurses didn't either. We had to go and find them if we wanted anything and then wait. I felt as though we had been put in a room and left to our own devices with no care for the dying in place.

My husband was concerned about leaving at night because nobody was coming in through the day for about 6 hours and that was when we were there. What hope did he have of getting any attention at night? The most friendly and attentive staff were the support workers and the domestic staff who did dare to venture into the room to ask if we wanted cups of tea. Thank you.

All in all a very frustrating and disappointing hospital stay. Highly disappointed in the qualified staff and feel they put nursing into disrepute. My father in law did die and needless to say we didn't get there in time. They said there was someone with him but am loathe to believe them as to how little attention they gave him through the day.