Disgusting hospital

[Furyfurious]

I was discharged from hospital this week following surgery and a 5 night stay at an NHS hospital. I am absolutely traumatised. What I have seen and been exposed to was totally shocking. I will definitely be looking for a Private health care policy. The Nurses attitudes, patients attitudes poor (not all ) but a shambles. The smell of the ward, the food etc sorry but there needs to be resolution

The thing is the nurses in private hospitals are no different are they ? They are in such short supply anyone can get and retain a job, be it NHS or Bupa. I think this is what posters on here don’t realise. Drop out and retention is so incredibly poor in the profession that the shortfall never gets filled. I mean, really, would any of the posters on here want to do it ?
I’d like to say that private hospitals will be better staffed thus ensuring superior standards of care but as they are money making businesses I think things will be pared to the bone. The only difference is that patients will be more vocal in calling out poor care because they are paying for it…

I was also in the John Radcliffe, Oxford. They saved my life and had multiple stays over a 4 month period. Amazing hospital with the best staff.

@Mercedesferrari, you mentioned that skills like admin of IV medication and cannulation were unnecessary. The degrees and additional skills (cannulating, catheterising, admin of IV meds, managing tracheostomies, managing central lines, managing critically ill patients etc etc etc) that I've got over the past 25yrs have been invaluable in the care of the patients I look after. As a Sister, I will also clean things, and feed, wash and assist patients with toileting etc. I will talk to patients and their families, I stay past the time my shift ends on most days I work. I teach junior staff (including doctors), I will manage the ward in my boss's absence, and I will bloody well argue the toss to ensure my patients (and my colleagues) get the support and care they need.

The knowledge, and technical and specialist skills I've got (and other nurses have) saves lives. I can recognise a deteriorating patient and escalate/act fast to help that patient. In my previous post, from the other day, I mentioned that my ward has some of the sickest patients outside of ITU. So I would say that these skills are vital to the role. And just because I do have these additional qualifications and skills, it does not mean that I don't care, and that I'm trying to be something that I'm not. I am a nurse, I feel bloody privileged to be a nurse, and I will do what I can and learn what I can to make damned sure that I give the best possible care to my patients.

Well, I'll step up and put an experience of mine here (I have posted it before in greater detail). I had a flexi-sig and was told there was no sedation available in the leaflet that was sent to me before the procedure. I told the doctor doing it that I had multiple abdominal surgeries before - he didn't ask for any further detail than the broad outline I gave him. In fact, I have had active endometriosis (never removed) a hysterectomy and other prolapse repairs, plus I have fibromyalgia which makes me more sensitive to pain. All in all, it's highly likely that I have a lot of adhesions.
The whole procedure was a nightmare, compounded by the fact the bowel prep hadn't worked and I was ignored when I told the staff. The doctor seemed very brisk and eager to get the procedure done as soon as possible. Meanwhile, I was in agony and was told to take deep breaths and that was the sole 'help' that I received. I was passed the gas and air eventually which did nothing. When I had the debrief afterwards with a nurse, I told her how awful it was and she advised me to have sedation the next time round, which was inevitable.
The notes I was given afterwards stated that I had tolerated the procedure well and that my pain score was a 2. My experience was that it was a 10+, among with feeling that I was anally raped (sorry if that is triggering for anyone).
I wrote a letter outlining what I felt had gone wrong - the one and only time I have ever complained. I got a reply, using the wrong title, reiterating that the doctor and nurse agreed my pain was a 2. At that point it was clear they were covering each other's backs and there was no point in contesting it, so I gave up.

When a government wishes to end a national health scheme its not difficult. Reduce the number of nurses training, the same for doctors, give contracts for cleaning, food, laundry to private companies whose only aim is to make a profit. Reduce the number of beds, reduce the number of staff. Leave the EU ensuring we have difficulty procuring drugs and you have the perfect storm. If you want an NHS that works then expect to pay higher taxes for a decent service and dont vote for a party that spends all its time trying to cut taxes.

Mum died in the most sad little hospital room, filthy windows with no light coming in, peeling paint on the walls, no life in it at all. A sad way to go. One in, one out. Nobody told me what to expect or to look for when a person is dying - the whole thing was so bleak. But there was a nurse who was quite wonderful. And she was like a guardian angel that night.

It depends on the hospital!
When I had my 1st, my waters didn’t break properly, they were kind of doing a slow trickle. The hospital sent me home and booked me in for induction, bearing in mind this left my waters broken for over 24hours. I got induced the next day, gave birth, went relatively okay, except for the midwife sitting on the bed all the time so whenever I went to change my leg position, I accidentally kicked her!! Anyway, once on the ward, I was in soooo much pain, I couldn’t walk to the toilet without blacking out. I didn’t know what to expect so didn’t know if it was normal!
I got discharged even with feeling like this, my mum came to pick me up (single mama at the time) and I asked her to ask them for a wheelchair cause I couldn’t even think about walking. They came over and tried to take my pulse but couldn’t count it. I’d gotten a bad infection and was losing a lot of blood.
I got rushed to intensive care and whilst in a private room there, they said I was low on magnesium. They accidentally injected into my muscle which swelled like crazy. They’d placed the call button out of reach and I was hooked up to a few things so couldn’t move. I had to just keep waving at a window until someone saw me and it was agony!
Once back on the labour ward, I had a private room and was left alone a hell of a lot which was hard when I was hooked up to a few things. And considering I was bleeding so heavily, my sheets weren’t changed in 5 days. I said to one of the midwives, when do they clean the rooms and she went umm, you have to ask. Like I was stupid.
The whole experience was very traumatising and I was poorly for a while. I changed the hospital for the second one and felt like I was in a movie, it went that smoothly 😂

OP, I too have been discharged within the last week after an emergency, major procedure, which kept me as an inpatient for a week in my local NHS hospital.
I only have one bad thing to say about the staff on my ward, and that is that one of my regular medications has to be taken at least 60mins BEFORE any other medication and/or food, and I made them aware of this on my first evening on the ward. I also told them each evening and morning of my stay, but on absolutely NO single occasion did they bring me this medication before breakfast was served, but an hour AFTER breakfast, along with my other morning meds.
This meant that my (already cold) toast had to sit around for a minimum of 2hrs every day until I'd been able to take this medication and give it the necessary time lapse before I could have anything else,
So I've learned, from hereon, I will always keep at least a week's supply of all my medications in my handbag, and will NOT hand any of them over to hospital staff if I ever have to go in again, and will take my meds like the 50-something adult I am at home, and not allow nurses to treat me like a 10yr old who has to beg or be patient and wait until they see fit to give them to me.
Other than this one thing, I cannot fault the treatment I received, and would recommend this hospital to anyone needing to choose one to go to for any treatment.

@Emmalin

It's always been poor ime. I genuinely got diagnosed with and treated for PTSD after a hospital stay in 2017. And both me and ds1 were dangerously ill when he was born due to multiple errors and lack of accountability. And that was during a time when Labour was pouring money into the NHS.

I think you'll find that in 2017, we were under the tories, not Labour.

It has been poor for a long time but not always. I trained as a nurse in the late seventies. The nursing care was totally different to now. We trained on the job, we’re salaried and woe betide us if we didn’t look after the patients with utmost care.
i have witnessed appalling care in the last 15 years when relatives have been in hospital and have had to go in to give the care myself. It’s truly awful, and wrong.

No, I don't think it is all about funding.

Its about many things - including some poor quality staff. Not all, by any means.

I do understand that pressures that A&E staff are under. It was chaos, beds in corridors, ambulances in the car park, when DH had to go there - but the staff were doing their level best. It was sheer weight of numbers of people waiting to be seen that was causing the chaos.

It was Easter Sunday, and many people were there because they hadn't managed to see a GP the previous week, so they went to A&E.

Obviously, they all had to be seen.

But, up on that first ward, it wasn't understaffed, no one was rushing around, and, to start with, I was impressed with how calm it all was. Every patient had their own room, as it was for contagious patients (my DH had Covid).

But, it turned into distressing chaos. Patients ignored, left to lay in soiled beds, and medication not given properly.

The second ward was wonderful.

Something needs to sorted out with the NHS. It gets worse every week, and winter is coming.🙁

Takes the piss nurses striked for extra money, if we pay them more they’ll be nice to patients eh?

Well no but it might make it more of an appealing career and help with retention. I agree that rude, negligent nurses exist and there's zero excuse for it - but when hospitals are so desperate for staff unfortunately often someone is seen as better than nothing. If more people staying in nursing/wanted to train there'd be more scope for maintaining standards. Not saying its right of course, but sadly its the current reality.

Sorry you had this terrible experience. I can only say it isn't like this everywhere. During my last hospital stay my father, who had recently been in a private hospital, felt the nurses were much better on the NHS ward. I had nothing to complain about. But this doesn't help if you realistically have no choice about where you go, and your local hospital is in a poor state.

JFC. Is there no protocol to address this?

Recently, after phoning NHS111 early hours of the morning and being told a Dr would phone me back within 4 hours, an ambulance turned up at my door in under an hour. I was pretty shocked.

Straight to A&E for bloods and X Rays. Then up to AAU until the evening when I was taken to a ward. I only have the best words for the paramedics, nurses, doctors, porters, HCAs, cleaners, receptionists, radiologists and everyone else involved in my care. Apart from the A&E Dr (who got a bit sniffy when he realised it was my own fault I was there) everyone was kind, personable, called you by your name and caring and more importantly, not judgmental (something I was expecting to happen.)

I do have to say that night staff were quite loud (day volume voices) and lights left on, bins clanging so sleeping was erratic but I was on 4 hourly obs anyway. I have no problem with them having a chat about stuff, they are all human, too.

Once one of the loos needed cleaning so I informed the staff. It was fine when I re-visited 2 hours later. They can't know everything and be everywhere.

My first nurse on the ward held my hand and was so kind, made me cry. She brought me a booklet on asking Jesus for help. A friend said "Oh! That's not right, did you complain?" I said no, of course I didn't, she was trying to help me and I appreciated that kindness."

The next morning (breakfast) I did get the food ordered by the previous patient and I respectfully asked if I could have a cereal instead (as I don't eat porridge) if they had a spare one - they did. Similar with lunch as it was something I didn't eat and, again, they checked for me and I was given an egg mayo sandwich which was fine.

So sorry for all the awful things people have been put through on here.

Was pleased to get home after 3 weeks but..........

................Big up for West Suffolk Hospital! Thank you!

I am just grateful we have a free NHS service, who are extremely understaffed. My 5 year old son has been hospitalised probably about 15 times in the last 18 months with stays that vary from 2 -5 days . All I care about is that they get him better and give him the medication he needs, I couldn’t care less about the food, if it smells like poo or there’s noise through the night! They make you better that’s all that matters, they all do a great job. If you want a 3 course meal, your own room and the smell of roses wafting through the air pay and go private

The NHS isn't free.

Yeah because they cherry pick and take the nuts and bolts good stuff
when it all goes drastically wrong In theatre your transferred back to the nhs

I dread having to go into my local hospital, it is awful. My husband was in and out over a six month period. He had terminal cancer and periodically needed care. In one stay he was in a ward with dementia patients though he was lucid. He couldn’t sleep because the man in the next bed shouted all night and was completely ignored. I visited every day and on one occasion he had what looked like cottage cheese in his mouth. It was thrush. Said he wanted a drink but nurse put it too far away for him to reach. Yet whenever I needed to speak to a nurse, I found them all huddled around the nurses station chatting. Overworked. Yes in A&E. There are people nursing that should never be in the job. They have no empathy at all. Beats me why they chose the profession in the first place.
I fought tooth and nail to get my dying husband into a hospice as he pleaded with me not to let him die in the hospital.
His last weeks in the hospice were wonderful. Nurses were so caring and the volunteers always went the extra mile.
That is how it should be. When did it all go wrong.

@Mercedesferrari you can’t be serious? Surely your posts are a joke? So incredibly rude. I bet you I are an arsewipe in real life and everybody hates you

It’s free at the point of use and not free.
Many of us do not get our medication on time. Some of us have unfortunately not been treated.

Great you don’t care about the food! Having had much longer stays in hospital, I do need to eat something. I need food that is safe for my swallowing issues, so it matters a huge deal.

@Sofialou

All I care about is that they get him better and give him the medication he needs,

Sadly, even something that simple seems beyond them these days. My OH is on a 3 week on, 1 week off, chemotherapy drug treatment for the long term (basically until he dies!). Something so simple, yet they bugger it up every single month. OH now makes his own blood test appointments because the appointments they sent were never the right date! Pretty simple, they have to be between 3 and 5 days before the first day of each treatment cycle - NHS administrators couldn't work that out and he kept getting appointments either too early or too late. Then there's the appointment to go to the oncology dept to pick up the drugs - in the first year, they actually had them to give him only twice in 13 treatment cycles - the other 11 times, he turned up, waited for an hour or two, only for them to say "sorry they're not here" - come back tomorrow. This is a hospital in a different county, over an hour's drive each way! So after that first year fiasco, he's insisted they are dispensed by our local hospital pharmacy to save all that wasted travel time and cost. Every 4 weeks, he has to phone the oncology dept to "prompt" them to raise and authorise the prescription, then phone and "prompt" the hospital pharmacy to actually look on their system to see it's been issued and get them to actually put it together, then phone again a couple of days later to check they've actually done that and it's ready to collect. Even after all that, sometimes he goes and they've still not got it ready to give him, even though they'd already said they had when he phoned earlier! Of course, it's the blame game, the pharmacy blame oncology, oncology blame the pharmacy. It's a sodding full time job just to get his drugs!

@Mercedesferrari I assure you I'm not a jumped up doctor 🙄. Yes our role has changed in the last 30 years, which isn't our fault. Doctors used to give medication, IV's, do blood tests etc now us nurses are expected to do it. Doctors are no longer trained to do it, they can't even take blood pressure or perform ECG's anymore, they don't know how to. Health care assistants are now the primary care givers in terms of personal care, toileting and feeding. But as I stated in another reply I as a ward sister still take patients at times and whether I'm doing that or co ordinating the whole ward I still find time to take patients to the toilet, feed and bathe them etc. I can't speak for everyone but the various wards and nursing homes I've worked in there has been a small percentage of nurses unwilling to do this and not all have been new/ young either.

@gmor6787 unfortunately the rates of people having dementia are extremely high with people living longer etc and all wards will have patients suffering with this cruel disease. If someone shouts out a lot we try to see if they need help with anything (toilet etc). But a lot of the time they're agitated and confused and we can't 1:1 all patients like this and can't just sedate them either. I agree the rest of your husbands care sounds bad though.