St Peter's Hospital 2013-04-18 Person 2 5 0

I am writing this review in the context of a hospital visitor. Before visiting a particular patient on Cedar ward, I telephoned the ward at 11.45am on a Friday to check that the patient was still in the ward before I visited that afternoon. I was informed that he was still a patient in that ward. I had telephoned late morning after ward rounds, realising that discharges would be optimised before the weekend. I arrived at the Reception area of the ward, shortly after 15.00 hours, to be met with total confusion. The name of the patient I was visiting was at first confused with another patient when I initially asked which bay he was in. I was then informed that he had been discharged, but when I explained that I had phoned earlier and was not told of imminent discharge prior to my visit, another staff member was consulted and I was told he was in bay 4. He was not in that bay and when I questioned yet another member of staff there was still confusion as to his whereabouts. I was directed back to the reception area yet again. A further check revealed that he had been discharged to his nursing home at 14.00 hours. The staff were extremely apologetic but the chaos and confusion did not set a good example to visitors whose first point of reference is the Ward Reception. I fully understand the pressures the ward staff have to cope with but there seems to be a breakdown in communication which is at the core of many problems. It was not the case for myself, but a visitor could have made a pointless lengthy journey. Not being aware of which patients are currently on a ward does not create a good impression.