"Discharge Unit"

Our experience in this unit were of a hell on earth, I never expected in a UK hospital. I was able to walk away(albeit without the medication I needed at home) but on the day I was there there were many vulnerable and elderly patients who could not do this. Patients were ignored when they called for help and when we intervened and asked for help we were told that because of staffing nothing could be done. An elderly lady who needed tge toilet was put on an open commode for want of a wheelchair, but the nurse then busied herself doing other jobs. We asked a doctor for assistance for this lady and were verbally abused by the same nurse about the state of the nhs and if we could fix it then go ahead etc. She then returned to the old lady who commented that she felt like she was going to explode and probably did as the staff member came back to retrieve clean up items soon after. Ambulance staff came to collect a patient in a side room to tranafer elsewhere and because she was soaked through and needed cleaning up before moving and another lady in a side room was asking for the toilet and being told to go to sleep. We waited 3 1/2hours for meds in a conventional chair which didn't help the pain of my knee replacement. Everyone was asked the most personal details within the hearing of others in very brusque manner and had their obs done by a nurse who almost kicked my operated leg several times whilst moving around. I left without medication as I found the way people were being treated so upsetting. This unit may have seemed like a good idea, but on asking around my experience wasn't dissimilar to that of others. I had had wonderful care and treatment on ward 207 and the contrast to the discharge unit could not have been greater. It was like stepping into the dark ages. There was absolute no dignity for patients here and it was heartbreaking. Surely if there aren't the staff for this unit to operate to the high standards I believe most staff would aspire to, it should be closed. I completely understand that staff were struggling to maintain a reasonable and dignified standard of care. At the very least if they are so short staffed they should be able to refuse any more discharges in a day and wards would then have to manage their own discharge patients until matters improve. This should be not be allowed to continue. Staff should not be expected to work under such conditions and I'm sure letting standards of care drop so low, must impact on their own health as well, as they didn't enter this profession to provide poor care to vulnerable patients.