Share review of Queen Alexandra Hospital

Queen Alexandra Hospital 2018-04-24 Person 4 5 0

The room was spacious and felt clean. Staff were kind and considerate and listened to my questions and concerns. On discharge the nurse practitioner was extremely patient and made me feel at ease. Carefully explaining the steps I needed to take, contacts etc. I have impaired memory so scribbled notes but feel that most people would no doubt have forgotten something. Perhaps a concise one page crib sheet could be given to patients upon discharge. I’m in a wheelchair so there were a few aspects that didn’t enable equality or enable independence. In the bathroom the mirror (the only one available in either room) is positioned above a shelf and hand wash dispenser and as such was totally inaccessible. I’ve spent my entire admission being unable to do the most basic personal hygiene such as comb my hair. Perhaps another mirror could be placed at an accessible level. The litter bins are not accessible being all foot pedal operated meaning I was forced to use my hand to open the lid which I didn’t feel was very sanitary. Today the window cleaners propelled down the windows which I wasn’t aware of (neither is it my understanding that the staff are aware of either). This startled me and I should imagine might be quite so for a number of patients but especially the elderly, and those with dementia and/or mental illness. There must be a schedule for windows to be cleaned and perhaps wards could have this so they can let patients (and all staff) know in the morning. Also we understand that when doing personal care etc that the curtains would be drawn but one might have quickly slipped off a top or undergarment not expecting that they could be potentially viewed by a window cleaner. Especially in my instance as I was on the 4th floor. The bathroom lacked any natural light and felt claustrophobic. There was inadequate storage space with no hanging rail though there was ample space for a small wardrobe/drawer unit in the corner. You are told not to bring a lot into hospital due to lack of space. However, if you are in for an extended period you naturally need more things. I won’t comment on the Hospedia unit as it is not run by the hospital but a private company. However, having paid £39 for a week and never using it once. Perhaps that tells it’s own story. The food I found a challenge and didn’t sample much. I’m on a restricted diet so it’s hard. I would have preferred smaller portions of more choice. A little more like airline food where one is given a small salad, always a bread roll and butter, choice of main and dessert. And a piece of fruit. It’s difficult to decide how hungry you’ll be a few hours before when you are ordering. At least if you’re given a tray you can pick and chose. If you are presented with a tray and asked ‘is there anything on there you don’t want?’ Those items can be returned for another service. I would probably have eaten more had this style of tray were available as I like to pick and choose what takes my fancy at the time. I was offered hot drinks regularly and the choices included hot chocolate too which is nice. However, I was trying to limit my caffeine intake and what I really wanted was a cool glass of squash. I had bought a bottle with me as I know if faced with plain water I won’t drink as much as if offered squash. One of the most annoying things was putting up with squeaky wheels on trolleys! I was in a side room with the door shut and wearing noise cancelling headphones and could still hear them squeak! I very nearly sent relatives out to the nearest DIY store to purchase oil. I heard staff discussing how they’d put certain things on the wheels at other hospitals in a vain attempt to dull the sound. There is always noise in hospital, it can’t be helped, but where it can be, it should. What a shame there wasn’t a sign celebrating the talented children whose photography adorns the walls in the surgerical area. I had asked my nurse about them after being confused by a random giraffe peaking around the door. It’s a lovely idea and makes it personal. Nice touches such as these should be celebrated. I hope that you accept these comments and find them useful and I hope, may feel some of them warrant further thought. On the whole the hospital is doing a fantastic job on, as we all know, an extremely tight budget.