Hyper acute stroke unit opens at the PRU hospital (From News Shopper)

This is great news, but I hope the staff will be trained in how to deal with patients with dementia as well as a stroke - a very difficult combination.

My father was rushed to hospital last thursday morning and shortly afterwards was taken to this new stroke unit. We were initially met by the ward manager who was extremely kind and caring making us feel that my father was going to be cared for with genuine and sincere compassion, however this feeling was to be short lived. Within minuts we were subjected to having to hear the nurse who had been assigned to my father, complaining to another nurse that she had not had her break. She was then approached by another nurse who said, and I quote, "Look he has relatives with him, go on your break and just tell her (Pointing to another nurse) to do 15 minute checks on him." The nurse then went over to this other nurse and asked her to do 15 minute checks on my father. The nurse who had been asked to do this rolled her eyes and made the loudest tutt she could, this was obviously asking far too much of her. This did not exactly feel me with confidence. My father was then taken off of the ward as apparently he had not had a stroke. He was then left on another ward where his condition deteriorated drastically and was given no treatment. This continued for two days as there were only two doctors to cover the whole of the hospital. We were told. When he was finally seen by a doctor we were told that my father should never have been taken off of the stroke ward in the first place. Hand overs in this new unit were a joke and I felt like my father was an inconvenience whilst on it. Let hope it gets better, and soon for my father sake.