"Feedback - inpatient stay"

Redwood 2 Highbury Hospital (Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust)

- Activities were a positive addition to the ward, when they happened. The activities timetable was not, however, stuck to so it was not always clear what to expect when. The activities coordinator and the OT made an effort to speak to patients, which was appreciated.

- There was no patient feedback/ involvement/ meetings on the ward whilst I was there

- Having access to an outside space in the fenced of garden area is a positive addition to the ward.

- The consultant seemed to listen to me and the community team. However, a lot of the information the consultant had about me when I was first in the hospital was very out of date (e.g., who my CPN was, etc). In the first meeting I had, people introduced themselves. No one introduced themselves in subsequent meetings despite different people being present different times.

- The ward were very good at speaking with my community team (who were very assertive in supporting me during the admission). However the ward were bad at communicating with me

- for example, ward review days and times would be shared with community but not communicated directly to me. It had to come second hand from community so I knew what was happening. 

- I was refused leave as an informal patient or offered only escorted leave as an option. The reason(s) for this was never explained and it often felt like I was being dismissed when I asked (e.g., a response of ask again tomorrow afternoon with no information given about why the decision had been made that time or to ask the ward manager with no reason given as to why she would need to make the decision)

- Intermittent 10 minute checks were done very differently by different staff. Some staff came to check on you every 10 minutes and would occasionally pop in to ask if you were okay. Other people stayed sat on the main seating area while on obs merely  entering where the patient was (in terms of location) onto the iPad without going to check on them and actually seeing them and that they were doing okay. While I was on the ward there was some discussion between staff and also students about how the observations should be done and whether people had actually been checked on. Staff are not always careful about not talking about other patients in front of people. I inadvertently know a lot of information about some patients that I shouldn’t

- it isn’t fair on those patients that I know about their diagnoses, treatments, incidents etc, or of staff’s opinions about patients.

- Staffing was an issue whilst I was on the ward. Heavy reliance on bank and agency staff meant that people weren’t necessarily familiar with the ward, patients, care plans, etc. It was quite unsettling when staff would openly talk about problems with staffing levels in front of patients

- this didn’t help you feel safe on the ward

- There wasn’t often time/ staff free to take you on escorts or for 1:1s. While I had a named nurse and keyworkers this didn’t seem to mean much in reality as there wasn’t scope or time allocated to speak with them. We never had the opportunity to talk through my care plan, etc.

- Some staff were able to offer support when I was distressed. Sometimes distress went unrecognised or unresponded to or giving PRN was *the* support offered. I appreciate that the ward environment can be busy and chaotic but it is sometimes felt like those who were louder in their distress were offered support whereas quieter people were perhaps perceived as calm and okay when this might not always have been true. 

- I received a second opinion Doctor call that was meant for another patient. That caused a lot of unnecessary anxiety. 

- Some of the information on my discharge summary is incorrect. There is also a section on the discharge summary about whether I felt safe on the ward or if there were times I didn’t feel safe. I was never asked these questions but in the summary someone has completed them as if they are my responses

- this has concerning implications for the accuracy of your monitoring and auditing procedures as the data is artificial and not patient response.