Share review of Cheltenham General Hospital

Cheltenham General Hospital 2014-09-23 Person 4 5 0

I spent 4 daysin Bay A of Prescott Ward- the layout of the ward means that there is no sightline for this bay with the central station and there were occasions, particularly at night, when it was difficult to gain attention, even with the alarm button. It did feel as though the night shift was understaffed - staff were working very hard but often there were things (such as replacing a saline drip) that were picked up by the morning shift. There were areas of the bay that were not particularly clean (beds, bed linen, floors and trays were very clean) - the bathroom/toilet was shabby and depressing and cleaned once a day - perhaps not enough for a gastro-intestinal ward. The nursing staff were everything that I could have wanted - efficient, hard-working, caring, compassionate and all with a sense of humour. The doctors' rounds were not rushed - I always felt that I'd been given enough time - and there was a clear intention to involve me in decisions and to give timely information about treatment. It was perhaps unfortunate that I was transferred on to the ward on a Friday evening which meant that I saw three different doctors before I was discharged on the following Tuesday. Whilst there was always the information to hand about my situation I never felt that any one practitioner had a handle on all of it and on several occasions I needed to prompt further investigations. However the treatment I received was prompt, although it was frustrating sometimes that the results of treatment (eg scans and ultra-sound) and blood tests was not always available the next day to carry the treatment forward. On the day of my discharge I asked to see a pharmacist about pain management and a dietitian - I did see a pharmacist and she was extremely helpful but she did not come to see me but rather happened to be on the ward so I grabbed the opportunity. I made repeated requests to see a dietitian during the day of my discharge (I had been diagnosed with pancreatitis and possibly duodenitis and so what I was going to be eating was very important to my future well-being). It would seem that there was just one dietitian in the hospital on that day and there were just too many calls on her time to be able to get to me. However she did phone me two days later and was very helpful.