Derriford Hospital 2023-10-18 Person 4 5 0

After my Neurological surgery I was placed onto Erme ward the night staff were lovely but very understaffed, another ward had taken a member of their staff. This meant bedpans were in short supply and we had to get ourselves off which was a strain after spinal surgery. Morning staff also left us on bed pans and wash ourselves, it wasn't until we turned around to the main windows we discovered that there weren't any blinds pulled down. We were in full view of workmen directly outside the windows. Most of the staff never spoke to us, they washed and dressed a distressed & confused elderly lady who spoke to them but never spoke a word to her. 3 of the staff would group together and spoke in their own language which was very rude. A porter came to take me to a waiting area but I wasn't washed or dressed, he pulled curtains around me & said "I'll give you 5 minutes to dress" I still had canulas in both hands & couldn't raise my hands above my waist, causing me to overstretch which my Consultant told me not to do. This man was very abrupt and rude, he shouldn't be portering & find some empathy. I worked for the NHS on a Stroke ward for 15 years and would never ever have treated my patients the way we were treated. Mr [name removed] & his team were wonderful but the ward staff not all of them left a lot to be desired. I feel your Porters need to learn patience and empathy, undergoing major surgery is severely painful & cannot be rushed to end up spending hours in a discharge lounge, we are human beings not robots. Caring staff need to engage with patients and not speak in a foreign tongue within earshot of them.