Hospitals

Sounds pretty similar to some experiences here, but things are certainly improving in my area.

The last time my DH was in hospital was with sepsis - so pretty ill. he started off in an ultra busy A&E whilst he waited for a bed in the hospital - care extraordinary - in a way he was so ill hallucinating - totally out of it really that the chaos didn’t really affect him. But eventually he ended up in an en-suite room of his own, with a very pleasant view looking out over the sea. A nurse even came to help him shower daily - he was very very weak. Until he was well enough to return home.

We have a neighbour who works in London for NHS England, and the intention that every hospital will have that sort of accommodation - particularly for patients sufficiently recovered to not need 24/7/attention.

I talk to a friend in Canada and it seems to be much the same there. And if you live in USA half the population can’t afford any hospital care!!

I meant to put this at the end.

nanna8 I hope your DH gets home soon and recovers well.

Thanks Whitewave - at least he has stopped vomitting which is a relief! I’d hate to live in the US, especially just now.

Was it concussion, that makes you sick doesn’t it?

Oh nanna8 I hope he's back home with you soon.

My DH is in a London hospital and has been for 3 weeks with an infection that started in his knee. He’s in an acute ward which is for assessment and short stay - 48 hrs max. He’s been there 3 weeks - not even a proper bed. The care he’s getting is amazingly good but the environment is dire.

I was in my local London hospital for 3 days a few weeks ago. Very quiet at night, same food each day, my drug dosage was halved, a medical error but nobody corrected it. Didn't receive correct dosage until I arrived home. Being 82, I was escorted to the loo and had somebody in the bathroom when I had a shower. Somehow I manage fine on my own here! I got out alive, just.

Nanna8, hope it's not much longer till you have your husband home, It's hard when you're ill when you're older, everything seems to take longer to heal...

My hospital experience was appallingly bad.
I honestly feel traumatised thinking about it.

I have never felt so bullied, patronised, and disrepected than i did in hospital - and i still have the nail marks that one of the 'angels' left.

Not just here, then. Many years ago it was definitely more relaxing. I suppose it is because of population growth , not enough beds and not enough staff. Also some seem to go to casualty with things like sore throats and earaches so waste everyone’s time and delay the more serious cases.

Coincidentally, earlier today I was reflecting on the treatment received at different hospitals in recent years.

In 2020, I had open heart surgery (mitral valve repair) in a large university hospital. For the first 36 hours the care was superb as I was in an ICU. Once I was moved to a ward, it was a different story, mainly due to inadequate numbers of senior staff on some shifts, especially at night. At times, I felt as if nobody cared even though they weren't busy.

At one point, a nurse brought a drug called Furosomide which the registrar had prescribed. Despite my DH's protestations that it would cause my sodium levels to drop, she overuled him and, as a result, within 12 hours, I needed a sodium infusion! Next morning when my consultant visited with his team, he was angry about this and asked who had authorised it as it was in my notes that I shouldn't have it. All eyes dropped to the floor.

Last year, I spent a week in my local hospital being treated for a sodium deficiency. (Indapamide from my GP was the cause) Most of the staff were very caring, within the limitations of the number on duty. The main exception was an agency nurse on my last night there. She was eight months pregnant and was disinclined to complete any tasks allocated to her by the senior nurse in charge. It was after 11.00pm before the drugs round was finished and all lights were fully on until then. At one point the drugs trolley was left unlocked and unattended!

Never mind, I'm glad to have lived to tell the tale!

I hope your Dh is home soon, Nanna8. It’s all so upsetting and distressing and you have to be vigilant all the time.

Hospitals nowadays aren’t the restful places they used to be, it’s just constant noise from people and machines, clattering and banging, visitors using ‘outdoor voices’ and so on. When my Dh was on palliative care recently our GP recommended that he did not opt for hospital because it would not be a good experience for anyone.

If hospital is unavoidable, I suggest taking earplugs in the hope you might get a little sleep.

I was in hospital for 5 days in December, after a hectic A&E, the trauma ward for one night then a 6 bed for four ward were well staffed and care was great, many choices for all meals.

I hope your man will be home and we'll soon Namma8.

I have had several hospital stays and it seems to me that in the main the staff are doing their best (with notable exceptions!) but the conditions of work are awful and would defeat even the most caring person.

Sitting at a desk, scrolling through facebook whilst some poor sod rings for a bed pan which never materialises must be quite stressful, i supose.
Honestly, that is what my stay was like.

I agree with MissAdventure. Yes there is staff problems but there is also a problem with a lack of respect for the elderly when they are in hospital. So often made to feel like a nuisance and not to be a bother when you need help. Too many stories of this sort of behaviour by nurses who get away with it as they are portrayed as ‘angels of mercy’. Not always !

I had a hospital appointment last week for a Flexible Sigmoidoscopy. My appointment was 3 pm. for an enema and then 3.30pm to have a camera inserted. I waited and waited. At 4.30pm I was called to go through the paperwork with a nurse and I particularly mentioned the enema, and also went through all my other health conditions, one of which is Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI) whereby my pancreas has stopped producing digestive enzymes.

At 5 pm I was called for a canula to be put in my hand and I asked about the enema but the nurse told me I didn't need it. Common sense said otherwise, and I pointed out that it was specifically mentioned on my hospital letter, and asked how a camera could be inserted unless I had had a "clear out". The nurse wandered off and I watched him walk up and down the corridor asking different people.

Meanwhile 3 times different nurses popped in and said "You're diabetic, right?" and I said no. Presumably they had never heard of the specific pancreatic problem I have.

After 20 minutes a different nurse came in and said yes to the enema and administered it. There was a toilet in the corner of the room but unfortunately no toilet paper Luckily I had some tissues in my bag.

After this shambles, the procedure was a doddle.

Thank you Tess46

I feel pretty awkward speaking up about how it was; like somebody stealing Christmas.

I have just, today, received a letter for an appointment for 22nd May which I had already attended. I received an appointment for a follow up by text yesterday Our hospital fortunately sends out text messages with reminders of appointments. We can’t rely on post office as we only get a delivery once a month,
It is time wasting for staff. I have friends who don’t have smart phones so rely on the post office.
The health workers we have come across in my area are brilliant. Thank You NHS

I was in hospital a couple of years ago with a burst appendix. It was dire- noisy, dirty, overheated mixed ward. One patient a male amputee, a drug addict I suspect from his presentation and behaviour, insisted on using the one toilet reserved for women and left it with s…t all over every surface. I told the staff but it wasn’t cleaned for hours. No sleep at night because lights on and patients’ bells constantly going with no one attending. I complained and was told they couldn’t turn the bells off because it was patients ringing them- I was so flabbergasted I was speechless and unable to say that my complaint was that the staff who were sitting at the desk chatting should be attending to the patients in need and not leaving them for hours when they were ringing for help. I think the problem was most of the staff especially at night were agency workers.
After a couple of days I started with D & V and after 12 hours they moved me to a side ward, by which time any infection would have spread. The relief though to get into a quiet room where I could turn the light off and open the window was overwhelming. I meant to complain, and should have done so but ultimately felt that life was too short…
So much for NHS angels. Mind you it wasn’t much better many years ago when my DF was admitted. An old man in the ward was crying out for help, but no one came. As we were leaving I told the staff on the desk, one woman just gave me a dirty look and as we walked up the corridor she shouted after me ‘take him home with you if you’re so bothered.’ Again, I should have complained but was worried they’d take it out on my DF.

When you're at a low ebb, the last thing you want to is stir it up more, I think.
Then, when you're out, you don't want to revisit some of the events in your mind.

Oh MissA it just isn't right that you were made to feel more vulnerable than you already were.

Regarding sleep, is there something better hospitals could provide? My own husbands recent stay I took noise cancelling headphones that he could connect to his phone (he used them at work) and I advised him to put them on, listen to music, a podcast, white noise - whatever and then just sleep when he could (I am bossy like that) but surely with all these health care experts on hand, they could advise people how to get sleep. Or is more of the problem they are putting loud/unpredictable patients on wards where people are convalescing?

Nanna8, I hope your husband is home soon

The poor old soul next to me shouted all night. Literally all of it.
One of the side ward patients got up all night and was agressive, shouting, coming into the ward where I was, threatening with his fists.
I had liver failure amongst other isues, and one of the main things they do is flood your body with laxative to flush out the toxic waste.

So, every night i was more than desperate for the loo, and buzzing for either a walking frame, or a bed pan.

They just ignored the buzzers, but i had a catheter, a drip, a mastectomy wound leaking pus, constant oxygen, antibiotics and a few other wires on me, all tangled and in a big lump attached to the cot sides.

They never just came.
They either shouted at me and said "come on! There's nothing wrong with your legs!"

I just couldn't get out of the bed.
It was totally humiliating.

Retired people have time to complain. The fact that you can't get any sleep in a hospital costs us money. The fact that agency nurses are being paid high rates to do nothing costs money. Please complain and follow through. If we don't, the system will continue deteriorating and we'll all suffer.