Disgusted at the NHS

Savvy_Sue

I would get in touch with PALS (every hospital has one!) and start my complaint there ...

McKneff

People are treated how they allow people to treat them.

Dont allow people to treat you like this. for goodness sake.
First of all i would have turned the TV off.
Then created merry hell, i would have been so angry.
In hindsight - what would you have done.

I would have caused a major stink at the time and jumped up and down
demanding some proper NHS care.

If it didnt materialise I would have gone straight to

a. upper management

b. a private hospital

c. the press, the media

Nows your chance, go to the Local Press, go to the local TV station.

Be angry for your mum and other peoples mums and dads.

To be honets, I am angry for you.
Best wishes to your mum for a speedy recovery

tandraig

hun - dont get me started on the NHS! I feel for you I really do. my sis in law has had the most terrible time in what used to be one of the most respected hospitals in south wales - but in last ten to twelve years their standards have slipped so much i will pretend i was at my daughters to go to her local hospital if i needed to.
i am going to name the hospital its the Royal Gwent Newport. it took them almost three months to diagnose uterine cancer in my sis in law - why? cos she had had a hysterectomy at the hospital a number of years earlier! and the care (or lack of it) has been !!!!!!!!
my son suffers severe brittle asthma and has been a regular there for over 20 years. in that time i have seen standards slip so much its unbelievable! i think the first year he was there was the last year they had a matron. wonder if thats anything to do with it?
I have sat with son nights in ward and listened to nurses comfortably esconced in day room (all night) while babies and children been crying in pain. when i went to ask if someone could see to baby or child was told rudely that they were alright and to shut up! am going to lose this post in a min so will post now continue later

tandraig

right will continue - my son is now an adult - and will tell anyone that when he had a severe attack while at his sisters and was taken to llantrisant hospital the care he recieved was unbelievably good!!! he was gobsmacked. his meds were given on time....nurses checked on him........his chart was filled in..........food wasnt brilliant but better than RGH! and......his asthma was properly diagnosed - as severe brittle asthma unlike the RGH which called it moderate asthma even tho he had been admitted to intensive care at least three times in the year before!!!
oh - and RGH is very dirty too - i once raised hell because he was admitted to A&E and the bed and walls and floor were covered in blood!!! was told nurses dont clean and there were no cleaners there as they were all on sick! told the nurse to get me a bucket of hot water and i would clean it myself but he wasnt going in that cubicle!! she refused! ok - found them myself and cleaned that dam cubicle!

McKneff

told the nurse to get me a bucket of hot water and i would clean it myself but he wasnt going in that cubicle!! she refused! ok - found them myself and cleaned that dam cubicle!

tandraig, yo sound like a woman after my own heart. I'm 7 stone wet through but i just will not allow people to treat me worse than i would treat them.
My colleague at work calls me the rotweiller on reception. (in the nicest possible way of course)

I found a little badge somewhere a good while ago, and it said
'no one can make you feel inferior without your consent' the phylosophy is worth its weight in gold if you change the word inferior to meet each individual situation. ie no one can make you angry/cry/etc. without you letting them is a great rule to live by.

take care
Annie

KittyKate

Thanks all. I would have gotten angry at the time..but my mum was upset and the majority of the nurses agreed that it was a terrible practice, but there was nothing they could do (I suppose there was fear for their jobs for kicking up a stink).

Mum was discharged at 7pm and is now resting at home.

I will NOT let this drop because every day people are being treated the same. I am going to write letters, start a petition...do anything in my power to stop this awful system and improve cleanliness & safety in general. Everyone derserves dignity.

tandraig

hun - i was effing fuming- i shouldnt have had to clean it! but no-one would take responsibility and i wrote a letter to hospital trust and got a standard letter back which said sod all! i could tell at least 20 tales of how RGH are a bloody awful hospital - i made my husband promise i would never ever go there if i was taken ill - thats how bad i think it is - would rather die here at home than go there especially after my mother in law died there! another story - but i wouldnt treat a dog the way they treated her!
i have to say though - i have noticed the decline since they did away with SENs and auxhiliary nurses (who did most of the patient care). the nurses these days dont clean, they dont wash the patients, they dont make beds unless the patients has died or left, they dont feed them, and they are overworked???????????? oh and dont bother asking for bedpan - you may get one in a couple of hours if you nag enough!
oh and if youre in pain - tough - you will get meds when they feel like giving them out - once in a shift!

pickle

The treatment is completely unacceptable. I'm glad you're going to follow it up in writing, it's the only way things change. Patients are entitled to respect and dignity. Maybe the posters about abuse should be targetted to some of the staff, not the patients.

CAFCGirl

I must admit to having both my parents working in the NHS so have been subjected to many conversations in my 25 years at their table.
My mum is a nurse and despite her being my mum, I can honestly say she is off the old school persuasion of nursing.
That is she knows the names of the individuals she is caring for, their history, diagnosis, treatment plan, area where they are from, immediate family's names, preferences with food, any special needs and any little personality quirks they share. This is simply because she cares about them as individuals.

My mum has had many fallings out with the cleaning manager, who she knows struggles with recruitment of staff and there is a language barrier with some staff which makes the upkeeping of standards difficult to address.

My mum has had to teach many recent nursing graduates bedside manner, and common courtesy toward patients. Seemingly in order to cut on bed hoggers, the NHS take a if we treat them like utter carp hopefully they wont stay for long...

Its a totally flawed system, and unfortunately without a major overhaul it is likely to continue in this way, like with any big business (which it is) its full of politics and back slapping, and palm greasing, all time ignoring its primary mission....

I myself discharged myself at 14 when waiting for a routine ENT operation because I was addressed as Mrs Patel, and asked to confirm my date of birth as some point in 1976.... without even looking at me....
I had no pre-op details taken, and was asked to roughly estimate my weight so they could calculate how much anastaetic I would need...

So I said no and sought an alternative to NHS treatment, and Im glad I did. Admittedly I pay for it, and the practice I attended are campaigning for what they do to be included as part of free NHS care for anyone...

All we can do as a nation at the moment, is say no I will not accept this, by the best available means..... eventually it will fall on the ears of someone who strongly believes in the true mission....

minimoneysaver

For the post at the end of page 1. The NHS is not free. Far from it. We pay a lot in taxes in the UK to pay for our NHS. We are all entitled to a good standard of care here.