"Very unhappy with the care my relative received"

My relative has had two admissions to C31.

On the first admission they were put in a bed which had been used by someone else and the sheets still had blood on them. They were changed when this was pointed out. There were used urine bottles on the side table by the bed.

During the admission I observed patients who were too poorly to get out of bed and when they asked for a urine bottle this was given but the curtains were not shut to maintain their dignity.

Used urine bottles were also observed in the toilet for 48 hours. When this was pointed out the nurse pretended to go to the toilet area to remove them but then didn't.

I observed very poor communication between staff and when we enquired on our relatives health throughout the night, the response was always vague.

Whilst I can respect the patients right to confidentiality I truly believe not sharing any information when we phoned in the morning to have an update on a relative who is very confused through morphine is ridiculous. The only feedback we were given was the nurse asking the confused patient if they were ok and they would inevitably say yes.

Perhaps the nurses are doing their best on a busy ward, but I do not believe their best is good enough when it comes to infection control, privacy and dignity and helping patients preform their basic needs when they are very unwell.

If these mistakes are occurring because there are not enough staff then the hospital needs to consider this.