Disgusting hospital

Food does vary but unless you are in for an extended stay it won't hurt you to have basic food or get someone to bring food in. Nothing new about that, I remember taking food in for my grandmother 35 years ago! No idea what the nurses did to upset you but the nhs can hardly be blamed for the other patients.

Bullshit - treating patients with contempt has nothing to do with funding.

I had a long spell in hospital on a few wards same hospital very different experience

one ward has reputation for being horrendous and I can confirm that’s correct

My elderly grandmother was recently in hospital with pneumonia. She also has dementia. She was in hospital for a few weeks.
Shortly before the pneumonia, I had taken her to a restaurant for a meal. She was walking, chatting, feeding herself.
My God, the difference when she got out of hospital (she also got Covid while in there). She couldn't walk (they had mistakenly put her on bed rest), couldn't talk, was more confused than ever and looked dreadful.
She moved to a care home from the hospital, as that was always the plan. It's the staff there who are the true angels. They built her up again so that she could walk (she had entered the home in a wheelchair), put on weight, start talking again, etc.
It's terrifying.

Culture is linked with funding. Try changing culture in an understaffed area with predominantly agency staff who will change in a daily basis.

I have experienced poor care in hospitals (although not as bad as some of the experiences on here) and always intended to complain but never did. I regret this now.

May I encourage all of you to contact PALS and formally complain. From the senior managers' point of view, "If it's not documented, it didn't happen". Also write to your MP or write an anonymous letter to your local paper.

I also agree with the poster who mentioned weak and incompetent managers as being part of the problem.

I agree it is a culture problem, not a money problem. Pretending every who works for the NHS is an "Angel" that never makes a mistake needs to stop.

The cleaning I saw was an absolute disgrace and apparently it used to be in house but is now separate companies. The window ledge and radiator thick with sticky grime and dust.
For two nights the chip that was under the bed when we arrived was still there when we left with lack lustre pushing of a broom.
Also they used to wash uniforms in house at high temps.
One nurse told me they rarely at home specially wash their uniform at a high temp.

It's become an embarrassment but worse than that it's killing us.
. This was like it before tories by the way

Do complain to PALS,OP, when you’re feeling up to it. It might help you if you can just feel listened to.

Nursing in many hospitals has a terrible culture problem. Until we face that head on we’ll never be able to improve the nhs. I’m an experienced manager and sometimes I fancy retraining so I could go and put my skills to use!

Years ago had to suffer outrageous night staff in a hospital children’s ward, they were a disgrace every night we were there, and the male nurse was horrible, gruff, and unpleasant, when he came to do checks on my four year old. I was quite scared . Day staff were absolutely normal and nice.

https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/myth-1-we-already-spend-too-much-on-health-and-our-outcomes-are-poor

You're kidding, right?

Medication needs to be given on schedule. Patients should be woken if they're asleep when medication time rolls around.

It’s the culture.
It’s not about investment. Billions have been pumped into the NHS but that won’t address the contempt for patients that is prevalent in many hospitals.

Shame you didn’t record it and name names -to pal if not to some other public media.
Even a crap nurse would surely be embarrassed to be named publicly.

I was taken into A&E in 2022 with acute cholecystitis. Had to have emergency surgery. I was looked after impeccably by everyone.

I think that even in good times previously, there were always good and less good hospitals, usually identified by the quality of the hospita leadership.

Well given the number of mumsnet complaints about nit being able to sleep what exactly were they supposed to do?

I had surgery this earlier this week in a private hospital. The level of care and cleanliness was outstanding, I was in ICU overnight, and in a private room the following day, the staff were amazing, nothing was too much trouble, no waiting for meds for hours on end, and the pharmacist actually came to my room to review my meds. They constantly cleaned, food was superb, meal trays removed the minute you were finished,.It couldn't be more different to an NHS hospital, I am now definitely looking into private health care.

I had 2 major surgeries last year. The first one, the nurses were absolutely lovely. Nothing was too much for them. They were kind and patient and went out of their way to make sure I was comfortable and had everything I needed close at hand, and they kept on top of my pain relief, coming frequently to ask how the pain was. The second surgery couldn’t have been more different even though it was the same department in the same hospital. The nurse who was on straight after my surgery was so grumpy, everything was a bother to her, she refused to give me any painkillers, I spent the whole night in tears with the pain. She never looked near apart from when I buzzed to tell her I couldn’t handle the pain but she still did nothing. The nurses who took over in the morning were the same. I was so very glad to get home and to be able to control the pain myself.

My partner was admitted a few weeks ago with a cardiac emergency and during the doctors strike. The treatment he got couldn't have been better, and every single member of staff was so kind to both of us. I took out private health insurance a while ago because of all the horror stories I've heard (DP can't get it as his cardiac problems are pre-exisiting) but his treatment on the NHS couldn't have been better.
I'm sorry you had such a bad experience OP and I hope you're on the mend now.

You know that bad hygiene in hospitals kills at least 5 times as many people a year as road accidents, right?

I think it comes down to local management
Not all wards are busy and not all nurses are a) good at their job or b) nice people.
The image of the 'Angel' and caring nurses are wrong.
There are some incompetent and lazy nurses who thrive and impact the culture of a ward because the management is also lazy and incompetent.
Although busy and underfunded, good staff supported by good managers can manage complex cases with compassion .
I'm an ex-nurse and I don't believe it's a case of pouring money in but making sure managers are out and about supporting and coaching staff, setting the standards and escalating where they genuinely don't have enough resources as well as dealing with unsuitable staff.
But the culture at the very top also needs to be right: look at Lucy Letbys CEO and Director of Nursing.
I'm scared to be admitted and when I'm old I'd seriously consider a trip to Switzerland

Also, after arriving by ambulance, I was left on a trolley in a corridor for 7 hours. It would've been longer but the A&E sister moved me to majors when I explained the seriousness of my condition.

It's appalling and has been for a very long time. The care is what you'd expect in a developing nation, as are the health outcomes.