'The very worst' — staff nurse lists serious problems at Victoria Hospital
A staff nurse has called on health chiefs to take action after lifting the lid on what she believes is a shocking state of affairs at a Fife hospital.
- By Craig Smith
- Published in the Courier : 13.02.12
- Published online : 13.02.12 @ 11.51am
The nurse, who has many years of experience, took the brave decision to contact The Courier in what she described as a "last gasp" plea for help, saying the situation at Kirkcaldy's Victoria Hospital should not be allowed to continue.
Seriously ill patients left in corridors, a shortage of beds and staff, stressed-out front-line workers and appalling examples of care are all among the claims which need to be addressed, she said, although NHS Fife has insisted it takes patient care "very seriously" and has encouraged employees to report any concerns to management.
But the nurse who contacted us said: "I've seen the very best and the very worst of nursing and what's going on at Victoria Hospital right now is the very worst.
"I'm not doing this out of malice; I'm doing this out of love for nursing because something needs to be said."
Staff and patients are still getting to grips with arrangements at the hospital's new £170 million wing. The nurse believes the majority of staff are at breaking point and said she has been horrified at the pressures placed upon them.
''I've come into a night shift to find 25 patients in the corridor waiting to be allocated beds,'' she said. ''One of the patients had experienced a heart attack and was acutely unwell, but they were sitting in the corridor with their family. It was just horrific.
''We've had to jump on someone's chest in the middle of a main corridor, with people watching in tears, and it's just so undignified.''
She went on to highlight a lack of staff in the wards which she believes is making things worse.
''There's a 1:15 nurse-to-patient ratio more often than not. Sometimes it's better and we've got 1:8 but the likes of NHS Tayside have a 1:4 ratio,'' she said.
''Staff here are having to leave one to two hours late to accommodate the shortfall, but we see managers leaving the building at 4pm having spent less than two hours on the ward and that's rendering them completely unable to have any patient care.''
The nurse also reiterated points made in The Courier last week about a lack of bed linen and towels.
''We had to put somebody into somebody else's dirty sheets — while the bed was probably fine, that bed should have been stripped and cleaned,'' she said. ''Nurses have been forced to wash and dry patients with pillow slips.''
Nurses have also allegedly been asked by staff managers ''not to be negative'' and not to apologise to patients or their families because it ''makes the trust look incompetent''.
The staff nurse added: ''I'm sorry, but we've got every reason to apologise.''
A spokesman for NHS Fife admitted it had experienced some problems settling into the new wing but said staff have coped ''remarkably well with the challenges and are dealing with the issues as they arise on a day-to-day basis''.
On the alleged corridor incident, NHS Fife rejected the nurse's claims.
''While we have experienced a demanding few weeks due to the unusually high numbers of emergency admission, we do not accept the description given,'' the spokesman said. ''In particular we do not know of any circumstance where a patient had a heart attack in the corridor.''
He accepted that there had been issues with internal linen deliveries during the first few days of full operation, but said senior charge nurses are reviewing daily linen delivery quantities.
And on instructions to staff not to be negative or apologise to patients, the spokesman noted: ''It is inappropriate and unprofessional of staff to burden patients and visitors with their concerns.''
NHS Fife added that it continues to review nursing staffing levels but has set the level using the national workforce assessment tool.
04.05pm - 13.02.2012 Thornindaside - perth, scotland Report This
it is inappropriate and unprofesional of staff to burden patients and visitors with their concerns.maybe the managers should dream up a training course that instructs the appropriate response when the public who don't leave their brains at the door ask questions/ make complaint to frontline staff.
05.45pm - 13.02.2012 tellitlikeitis - Dundee, UK Report This
I love that she thinks NHS Tayside have a 1:4 nurse to patient ratio. She needs to visit a Ninewells ward and educate herself.
08.45pm - 13.02.2012 Nhs supporter - Leven, Uk Report This
It is an unsafe environment which I would not put an animal in Never mind a person.... The ward level staff ( band 2,5 & 6) work tirelessly to try and deliver a high standard of care , the others should be embarrassed to call themselves nurses (the patients advocate)
11.04pm - 13.02.2012 Calum McNeill - Paihia, NZ Report This
Perhaps the ex Prime Minister should get involved. He could have a word with Alex.
02.30am - 14.02.2012 Wendy Wyatt - Brewerton NY, USA Report This
I am a Nurses Aid in Up State NY, I worked in one of the Best Hospitals in our area. Everyday I was given between 5-8 patients, My Job was to assist them with there baths or give them baths if they could not do it them self. I was also trained to take TPR's someones blood sugar if needed.
10.05am - 14.02.2012 tina - stirling, scotland Report This
the managers do needs to come back to frontline to see what goes on, im a nurse and work a 12.5 hour shift. i am lucky if i get 2 half hour breaks in a day and although i have a 1:7 ratio in my ward the work load is almost imposible to get through. patients are human beings, not things.
10.09am - 14.02.2012 gnasher - DUNDEE, angus Report This
I can't believe the comment by tellitliketis! Maybe the ratio isn't 1:4 ? So what? thats not the point of the article. The point of the article is the lack of care and diginity that some patients are undergoing and the staff being run off their feet trying to nurse more patients than is physically p
01.35pm - 14.02.2012 Peter - Dunfermline, Scotland Report This
This is the result of poor planning driven by the desire of Fife Health Board and Fife Council to centralise everything ‘Fife’ in Kirkcaldy. A previous contributor had rightly indicated that this hospital should have been located outside of Lochgelly where they could have had adequate access to all
03.32pm - 14.02.2012 Anonasnhsfifewontbehappy - Dunfermline, Fife Report This
We as nurses need to think about whether the right resources are being provided in order for us to do our job and safely maintain our registration. If that is not the case then NHS Fife is failing in its role not only to provide care but to provide the resources to do so.
04.52pm - 14.02.2012 Thornindaside - perth, scotland Report This
@Anonasnhsfife won't be happy(love the name by the way)I'm sure most frontline staff already think. I'm just not sure their managers think deeply otherwise they wou;ld do more than issue sniffy responses to widespread concerns.
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