General Chat

With the superbugs now planted firmly in the hospitals, cleanliness should be top priority! But it is not all down to the cleanliness, some of it is down to pure neglect... My dad went for a heart by pass operation, one of 5 patients that morning... All of them were screened for M.R.S.A... All patients proved positive to M.R.S.A EXCEPT my dad.. who was then taken to theatre LAST! We didnt find this out until 2 years later!!! Dad was then not treated for M.R.S.A in time and suffered horrendously due to it... The best part..?? The surgeons initials were.. MR.S.A!! Talk about a personal touch! Maz x

Maz, thats truely terrible, I hope he sued them!! Pat, so it looks like Irelands the same, I was disgusted at the sight of the conditions in this hospital, not only were the toilets filthy(used by patients, staff and visitors) but there was rubbish bins full to the top,this was a hospital that many years ago was known for its hygiene and good management, how times have changed. the hospitals here (in Spain) could teach them a few things!!

When I was in Wycombe General, there was nothing much to do except observe what went on around one. The Irish lady was very diligent and daily carefully cleaned the floors, equally carefully missing the same bits every day. When I was admitted, there was a lost sock on the window sill. She carefully dusted the sill up to the sock, lifted her duster over and did the other side of the sill. The sock was still there after 7 days when I was discharged. I often wonder about that sock. Is it still there? len

Hi Roxanne Yes Dad did sue them and has just won a substantial amount of money.. and although that money will help with the 24 hour care that he now needs, all he ever really wanted was an apology.. Which to this day he has never had... This happened 6 years ago!! Maz x

Hi Well Going back a lot of years, I had had my 1st child, and was on the loo, watching silverfish crawling all over the floor. I couldn't believe it. Granny

When my nan was in hospital, I had a bit of a go and some snobby woman who wouldn't take her white gloves off to use the alcho-rub, put outside the wards. -Silly moo!

Two fairly recent experiences: My County Hospital - I had anaphylactic shock (not the first time) and my daughter panicked and called an ambulance cos she couldnt work out how to get the adrenaline into the syringe. The Paramedics were absolutely marvellous, almost certainly saved my life, but insisted on taking me to hospital. There I languished on a trolley in reception until eventually I was pushed into A and E. It wasnt particularly busy and I was pushed into a cubicle with the curtains left open. There were soiled tissues on the table next to the bed, several dirty cups and the floor was filthy - not dirty, but filthy. Lots of Nurses etc passed to and fro. After SIX hours still no-one had come to look at me - at that point I loudly announced that I was feeling MUCH better and was going home. I had to sign a disclaimer and then left, paying a visit first to the FILTHY ward loo. In contrast, the week before, in Cyprus, I had a similar allergic reaction and my face swelled to the size of a football. My friend took me to a small clinic, where I was admitted straighaway to a beautiful room, spotlessly clean, with private loo shower and bath and a sun balcony! I was treated immediately and with careful concern by the Doctor in charge and a nurse visited me every fifteen minutes through the night. Next day I was asked what I would like to eat, and they sent out for it. An old Cypriot lady was constantly washing the floors and another carefully dusted, then wiped, all surfaces with a clean cloth, which she put in her bin before she left my room. My bed was pushed onto the balcony while all this went on. I was discharged after 36 hours, but had to return four times a day for injections until I returned home at the end of the week. The cost for all this was £57 - I didnt even bother to claim it on my holiday insurance! I know that wages are VERY low in Cyprus - but that didnt seem to stop anyone doing a thorough job. (My County Hospital is the same one where I gave birth to two of my daugters in the late 70s - it was a little palace then and I could not have faulted it. What, I wonder, has gone wrong?) Olde Crone

In the late 80's I was on an inner city Gyne ward (NHS) and the cleaning staff were fighting a losing battle.....The patients had no respect for the 'lowly' employees and the mess they left in the bathrooms made my stomach turn...Apologies to those of a delicate disposition :( I was there for two weeks and then readmitted with an infection a couple of days after discharge...No guessing where that came from! I certainly don't blame the staff, they were doing the best they could do under the circumstances. On a 'happier' note the other half broke his wrist and spent 3 nights in hospital earlier this year...We couldn't fault the hospital on their standard of cleaning. Chris

I agree that a lot of the filth in hospitals are caused by the visitors themselves, but I do not expect to be the one to clean someone elses muck. It's the same in any other establishment - they employ capable people to do a job which the NHS do but at a cheap price - unfortunately cheap breeds incompetents and germs. Lin

Pride in the job - is what is missing. Back in the days when a ward had an allocated cleaner it was 'her' ward, if she missed a bit today, she'd probably do it tommorow. these days who ever does it today think ' sod it' leave it for tommorow - but the tommorow person thinks just the same- why should I if she didn't? I dont blame cleaners for things like cups and dirty tissues on the floor - that is the irresponsibility of who ever dropped them there. Cant see that sterile nurses uniforms would actually make a lot of difference - what are you going to do?Strip visitors of their clothes too? Jess

I agree, it is a form of 'slave labour' these days my anger is at the government not the staff, I think their concerns lie with trying to give a false picture of 'how great things are' they put nursing staff under so much mental strain to reach targets that general hygiene gets put to one side, and its just not good enough, There are too many cheifs and not enough Indians, its a sham the whole health service. I had not been into a British hospital for many years, and the changes horrified me.