Care Opinion

Airless, stuffy, hot and stagnant conditions

Posted By funnyyz65

"Airless, stuffy, hot and stagnant conditions"

About: Royal Hospital for Children and Young People (Edinburgh) / Dalhousie Ward

(as a service user),

During our stay on the Dalhousie ward I can not get over how hot the wards were. My son was admitted with RSV. I stayed with him on the ward. I was fit and healthy when we arrived but during our stay the environment of the ward really affected me. I found that it was airless, stuffy, hot and stagnant. As a result it caused my asthma to flair up and become quite wheezy, my sinuses became clogged and stuffy and generally felt bunged up. 

I can’t understand how that is in the children’s best interests to help them feel better. The conditions of the ward would only intensify why they’ve been admitted. There really needs to be a lot more fresh air circulating the room!

I believe that the only reason my little one was fit enough to be discharged is due to the fact we got him outside as much as possible and had him napping out in the fresh air. There is extensive research into the health benefits of fresh air and recuperationm so why is this not happening on the ward?

This needs to be looked into urgently, I believe as it’s unbearable. I feel so sorry for the staff having to work in these conditions!  The ward was like this earlier in the year too, so no changes since then. 

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Responses

Response from Louise Davies, Patient Experience Officer, Patient Experience Team, NHS Lothian 14 months ago
Louise Davies
Patient Experience Officer, Patient Experience Team,
NHS Lothian

Submitted on 24/11/2023 at 16:01
Published on Care Opinion at 16:01

picture of Louise Davies

Dear funnyyz65

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us regarding your experience in Dalhousie Ward at the Royal Hospital for Children & Young People.

I am really sorry to hear that your son was admitted to hospital with RSV, this must have been a very distressing time, not helped by the wards being too warm. I have shared your feedback with the Clinical Management Team to review.

Thank you again for sharing this with us. Feedback like this can be really helpful to improve the experience of future patients and families.

Louise

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Response from Claire Sutherland, Senior Charge Nurse, Respiratory Medicine, Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, NHS Lothian 14 months ago
Claire Sutherland
Senior Charge Nurse, Respiratory Medicine, Royal Hospital for Children and Young People,
NHS Lothian

Submitted on 07/12/2023 at 21:26
Published on Care Opinion on 08/12/2023 at 10:06

Dear funnyyz65

Thank you for taking the time to share your story. I am very sorry that this was your experience and you became unwell throughout your stay.

I have reported this issue to Bouygues who deal with the maintenance within the building as you are correct, it can become very warm on the ward. The ward temperature has been checked and I am told it is within limits. I contacted Bouygues for further information and have been given the following statement -

'The board agreed temperature for this type area is 18-28 degrees celsius. If the temperature is within that range Bouygues are not permitted to alter it'.

Once again, I apologies this was your experience within the ward. Thanks again for your valuable feedback.

Kind Regards

Claire

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