Warrington Hospital 2019-05-24 Person 2 5 0

In the most part the staff on the ward were kind. It is clear that services are very, very stretched and driven by the requirement for timely observations (which the electronic system mandates). My husband and I work in the NHS so we understand how this works, however as a patient it feels like that getting the timing of that to be done precisely even if clinically the person is doing well, means that delaying things like analgesia is more acceptable - this, to a patient will seem very unusual. There was one member of staff (midwife) who I do think needs to reflect on the approach she has to patients as she comes across quite uncaring and brusque despite what appears to be a sunny disposition. I'm not sure the name is exactly right R Gardson? She was the last midwife to look after me on the ward. In the morning I'd asked a question about whether routinely iron levels were on my bloods (id been extremely iron deficient pre-natally despite my Hb holding up reasonably well) and she insisted on giving me my Hb reading despite me explaining I knew my Hb was ok I just wondered if iron happened to be something they measure, a simple "no they aren't" would have been fine, but it her response felt aggressive and irritable. The next issue was my TTO, I mentioned that having tried various analgesia during my admission, none of the opiates seemed to make any difference, but tramadol did have an effect. Therefore on going home, it made more sense for me to take a small supply in case I needed it as top up at night to the paracetamol and ibuprofen. As is quite clear from my drug kardex I was barely using it and trying a smaller dose when I was, therefore I wasn't demonstrating any form of dependency. Her first answer was no you can't, we don't give it. I asked if there was anyone this could be discussed with, she said no again, which made me feel a little like I was trying to do something very wrong. I then asked if I could discuss with the doctor prior to discharge - she again said, they won't do it, at which stage I simply had to say ok, I'll mention it when I see them. Having had a previous section and known the pain you can be in, and this being my second on the background of quite a tricky couple of days, I was genuinely worried about going home without some back up from simple analgesia which would actually work. In any case when I saw the doctor, he said it would be no problem at all, and I was prescribed a small supply - incidentally i haven't needed to use it which I'm hugely grateful about. the TTO itself took an inordinate amount of time, during which time no mitigation had been in place to either give me my antibiotics which I missed by about 5-6 hours in the end (as i'd been admitted with ?sepsis and treated as such, this does not seem a sensible situation) also I was without analgesia for this time too. When I asked her about some pain relief, she didn't seem sorry that I couldn't have any, instead she seemed to portray a sense of "i told you so" as she said, the TTO is taking longer because of the tramadol. I was really struggling, the TTO was taking longer and longer and so we asked if a doctor could be asked to prescribe some paracetamol on a temporary drug chart pending the TTO arriving. This request was ignored, even when it was mentioned that i'd missed my antibiotic dose by several hours. As someone who loves and works for the NHS I utterly hate having to be so negative, however this staff member really does need to reflect on how her approach appears to patients, it may be that this is unintentional but it does not feel nice at all. Genuine empathy goes a long way in our stretched and strained NHS system, I know this acutely as I work in Emergency Medicine: the patient in front of you is not to blame for the system, and I wasn't being unreasonable or demanding, I know what that looks like and I can hand on heart say that I wasn't. On a ward level organisationally it would seem to make sense for TTOs to be dealt with the day before where possible ( in my case this could easily have been done), if nothing else it would have freed up a room which was occupied for probably at least 7 hours longer than it needed to be. I had an exceptional experience on Labour Ward, the care was second to none and also from the rest of the ward staff on post-natal, I was shown kindness, care and courtesy. It is a shame that this incredible work gets let down by these things and hope this message can be take to which ever level it needs to in order to effect change.