"Creative record keeping and lack of professionalism "

My partner attended ward 4 in order to be assessed after GP referral.

A number of issues came to our attention.

While we were waiting to find out what was happening, my partner had obs taken twice. As someone with a nursing background, I mentally noted the heart rate, which read 102 and 104. Although these readings would place my partner with an EWS score of 1, I was unconcerned as my partner suffers from anxiety and therefore an increased heart rate would not be uncommon. However, nursing staff have no other way of judging this. I was therefore extremely surprised when I read the obs chart at visiting that night to find that the heart rate on both occasions was recorded as being less than 100, reducing her EWS to 0. I also found that the patient comfort assessment had been ticked by a nurse on the first night. My partner had been admitted with pain, yet the nurse on the first evening had ticked the box saying my partner was experiencing no pain.

When I attended afternoon visiting the next day, I again looked at the notes. I noticed that obs had been taken before 6am, and my partner asked what the blood sugar was as it had been taken at the same time as her obs. According to her notes her blood sugar was taken an hour and half later at 7. 30am. We think that this type of creative record keeping is not acceptable.

My partner was also concerned about the professionalism and effectiveness of the some of the ward domestics. For two days, a hoover was briefly pushed in a couple of directions in the room my partner was in (a four bed). It was merely a token gesture and the floor was not fully cleaned for the duration of the stay. In another incident, my partner witnessed a domestic move a carrier bag left by a patient. The carrier bag appeared to contain rubbish, however the domestic went through the bag to see if there was anything she could gain. My partner was not mistaken about the domestics actions, as they heard the domestic actually tell a nurse that she was seeing if there was anything she could take. The domestic proceeded to 1. Take a packet of crisps from the bag, and 2. Sweep crumbs she had spilled over a window sill all over the floor.