Share review of Gloucestershire Royal Hospital

Gloucestershire Royal Hospital 2016-05-07 Person 2 5 0

Good things about the ward were the level of cleanliness which was good, and the food which was generally palatable and there was a reasonable choice. Mostly the doctors were pleasant and helpful in answering questions etc, I did have to repeat the same information about my symptoms and the course of the illness to each new doctor I saw, which was about 6. One or two of the nurses and other ward staff were lovely and really went out of their way to find out what you needed and make you comfortable. However, generally I felt very un-cared for by ward staff, who did many things which showed that they were not really thinking about the needs of individual patients. For example, the first few nights I was there, all the lights were suddenly put on for the drugs round when all the patients were sleeping. (When other staff were on duty only side lights were put on.) One of the sisters, who was very caring, brought me a fan when I had a temperature, which was helpful for my very bad headache. Other staff taking my temperature would turn it off and then not remember to turn it on again. I also became very light sensitive and had the curtain pulled between my bed and the next to block out the light from the window, but this was constantly being pulled back by staff without asking. No eye shades were available to patients on the ward. One of the nurses ( an agency nurse(?) with a name like Angie Chirawakie(?)told me off for not asking for medication at the right time/to the right person. She told a doctor that the patient next to me had not been sick the previous day when she had been sick twice to my knowledge. She said 'I nursed her all day' when she had stopped her shift at 2.00 p.m. When I had been on the ward for 5 days a lovely new staff nurse, called Tara arrived. She greeted the whole ward, introduced herself and her rank, and had a really kind caring manner, apologizing to me by name for accidentally pulling the curtain open a bit. It was all so comforting and unusual that is made me cry! I often had very bad migraines/headaches in the middle of the night. It was very difficult to get any attention and even if someone had answered the bell it took 20-40 minutes for me to receive any pain relieving medication. Often I would have to ask several people over a period of time. Similarly I had very sore lips one night and asked two nursing assistants for some Vaseline. Both said they would see if they could find some. Nothing happened so I asked a staff nurse. My lips were so sore that I thought I would not be able to sleep. After 1 hour 15 minutes, no-one had brought anything, at which point I found my mislaid lip salve on the bathroom floor. No one ever said they could not or would not do anything, but rather they said 'I'm just ...' or 'I'll just do such and such then I'll...' I understand that my needs were not a medical emergency but I was sometimes in severe pain. A Nurse Rani was asked to come to me by an assistant as I was getting a bad migraine. She said'Just coming' twice then eventually walked straight past me. The assistant told her it was me with the migraine and she looked at me then just moved on to a sleeping patient. I felt of no significance , and that I had absolutely no power or control in this situation. All that I have described may make it sound as if i was a very difficult or exacting patient. I certainly tried not to be difficult and I appreciate that the staff have a hard job with lots of competing calls on their time. Notes were kept pushed down the end of the bed or left on the bed, which was not always comfortable. It would be better if the notes were kept in a proper container. On the ward there was notice up saying 'Do no harm'. I have to say that I thought the attitude of the staff did harm to me and others in the ward.