I don't honestly think there were any good points, when Mum stayed in hospital after she fell and broke her hip. The bad points are too numerous to mention fully.
1.The elderly patients were terribly distressed by the awful, clinical, impersonal conditions in the hospital ward.
2. No one was called by their name, because name cards were not allowed above the beds. ( Why? I have absolutely no idea!)
3.Hot tea was put in plastic beakers and placed in front of my mother, when it was scalding hot, or else it was placed out of her reach.
4.She didn't eat for the first couple of weeks, but no one seemed to notice until she'd lost a lot of weight.
5.Very restricted visiting in afternoons and evenings only, not meal times, when I could have helped Mum with her food.
6.Virtually no physiotherapy. Mum is unable to walk now and is in a NH.
7.Relatives made to feel in the way and very little information given out.
8.Mum had to wait 48 hours for her hip replacement operation and she has severe rheumatoid arthritis. Meanwhile, they were continuing to take in non-emergency cases. Mum was so stiff, and her joints so painful after all the time lying flat on her back, that she couldn't bear to stand up.
9. It was a brand new hospital, but why does everything need to be white? It can be very confusing for patients with poor vision. A few colours would have made the ward less confusing and frightening.
10. Mum kept trying to climb out of bed, so they had to put her in the corridor. She was very distressed in hospital. Why can't the wards be cosier and less clinical? A day room with a TV would be very helpful for elderly patients and they could be with others.
I'm sure I could find lots more bad points and I find it really upsetting that Mum was treated so badly in hospital. If she had been able to have the operation the next day and she hadn't lost so much weight, I'm sure she'd have walked again. Now she is stuck in a Nursing Home.
Kayla