Princess Royal Hospital Ward 6 (Cardiology) - Enter and View Visit Report

Report - 5 December 2016

The purpose of the visit was to understand how patients were treated with dignity, have privacy respected in a hospital environment, and ask patients about their views and experiences of the wards services.

Summary

We wanted to learn about:

Patients experiences of care, and understand how patient dignity is being respected in the Hospital environment
Relatives/visitors experiences, and any ideas they may have for change
Observe relatives/visitors engaging with the staff and their surroundings
examples of good working and care practice

Key Findings

We observed, and were told by patients, that on most occasions, they were treated with respect and their dignity was upheld by the staff on the ward
Patients told us staff were very hard working, kind, cheerful and friendly in their treatment, care and support of the patients. Despite being busy staff took time to talk with patients. This was evident in the staff interactions we observed, though an exception was reported in care support of a patient with Dementia
Staff explained to patients what they were doing when giving treatments, doing tests or providing personal care support, and provided patients (and their relatives as appropriate) with information about their treatment plan
Staff responded promptly when assistance was requested by a patient
Most Patients were either satisfied or very pleased with the meals provided, and the food choices available. Staff provided patients with something to eat and a hot drink when they missed a meal due to traveling elsewhere for tests/treatments
Patients were not aware they could ask for available aids for sleeping during busy nights in the ward – ear plugs, eye bands
The corridor leading to Ward 6 was sometimes cluttered with temporary storage of trolleys and chairs/beds