An ambulance was called on 17/09/06 for my 81yrs old Mother,it took 2hrs to arrive.On arrival I went to book Mum in ,I had to walk past a group of youths at the entrance to Casualty ,they were swearing and shouting I felt very intimidated.
After joining Mum we were put into a cubicle we waited about 15mins when a nurse came and put a drip in and take Mums obs. After giving Mum an injection for her pain she left.
Mum stayed on that trolley from 2am until 9am as there were no beds available. Whilst waiting I saw people fast asleep across chairs ( a nurse told me that one elderly man had been in every night for the last four nights), he gets a cup of tea in the morning and then goes on his way. Another man they called Peter came in was given a cup of tea, when he brought his cup holder back he had a dog on a lead, he walked right through casualty to the nurses station, I could not beleive such things go on. The floor was filthy, there was a blood stained bandage by the coffee machine, there was rubbish on the floor.
My Mum was taken to Medical Admissions at 9am.A very pleasant porter took us there. On reaching the ward a nurse showed us the bed. She took Mum's records, jumped herself up onto a table and crossed her legs and sat reading Mums notes. Although she was a pleasant nurse I found her actions sloppy and unproffessional.
Mum was in a bay of six beds, five were occupied by men, Mum found this very upsetting. The same evening Mum was transfered to Spencer Ward, she was happier being with three other ladies.
Mum is partially sighted, she is quite frail, she was left on her own in the bathroom and she fell, she has a bad pain in her hip now. The nurses told me that they are very short staffed and said that they are working fourteen hour shifts. Some of the nurses are nice but, there were two nurses that were very abrupt, I was not happy with there attitude at all.
Mum was in the Northampton General for eight days because she was poorly, over that time.
What myself and my family saw was a real eye opener, parts of the hospital are a mess, some nurses are overstretched, some had trouble with their appearance, their hair was untidy, one had long hair not tied back. The wards I saw were cluttered and untidy.
My friend had a fall while on holiday in Weymouth last week. He stayed overnight in Dorchester Hospital and had a very different excperience.
Why didn't Northampton get it right? It was a miserable experience for my Mum.
"Emergency admission not so good at Northampton"
About: Northampton General Hospital (Acute) Northampton General Hospital (Acute) Northampton NN1 5BD
Posted by Mollie (as ),
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