"Mattress and mattress cover were very badly soiled"

My son was admitted & spent 3 nights in A2. From start to finish every member of staff he came in contact with were amazing.

My son has additional needs & is very anxious & worried in a hospital setting. The care from the first two doctors was second to none. We seen & spoke to one of them many times during our visit. She has no idea how her caring nature & witty personality helped us through a worrying time attending a CT scan with us & generally taking the time to chat to my son anytime she seen him in & outside of the ward.

On one of the days a nursing assistant came to complete a bed audit on the bed my son was in. When she unzipped the mattress cover we were disgusted to discover that the mattress & inside of the mattress cover were very very badly soiled. This mess that my son with an infection was lying on was not the result of one toilet accident. It was disgusting & should never have been used. To be fair, the staff concerned immediately reported it & within a very short period of time another arrived, however before it was placed on the bed it wasn't checked. I checked it myself & it was spotless the way it should be. While this incident does not retract from the amazing care we received while in hospital it clearly is an issue that needs to be  addressed. I would not let my son lay on a mattress like that in the house & I most definitely would not expect him to do it in a hospital setting.

On the day we were waiting to be discharged a nursing assistant came and cleaned & changed the bed, however they did not check it. This is something I feel should be done after a person is discharged & should be made to be part of the process each time.

One more bit of constructive criticism I would like to mention is how one of the nursing assistants starts their morning routine. One of the mornings  was our last day and bearing in mind we had spent 3 nights there & did not have the greatest of sleeps. They entered the bay at 8 in the morning, turning all the bright lights on, whipping back curtains & dragging chairs that were next to us. There was no one even beside us that morning, no idea why they felt that dragging of chairs was necessary! My son has a severe learning disability, ASD, ADHD etc & needs time & space to waken in the morning. There were 3 light switches in Bay 3 & I had to turn the one immediately above us off each morning. I understand they are making people aware its morning time & to prepare for Breakfast. But I don't feel they need to come in like a wrecking ball. When dealing with sick children & tired parents I feel they could have a more subtle, gentle approach. Several times through the day when they came into the bay they insisted on turning all the bright lights on, one time when there was only 2 patients in the bay & both were sleeping, & they walked straight back out of the bay again. No need for the lights to even be on.