This review is to acknowledge a few of the staff on 3 west. My daughter was clearly an addict upon admittance and was treated as such, for the most part, during her stay on 3 west. The illness however that brought her to the hospital this particular time had nothing to do with addiction; she had fallen ill with a permanent debilitating disease. While I was fighting tooth and nail for my daughter to be treated as a patient, not an addict, there was one nurse, Tia, who showed above and beyond compassion. I could have jumped up and hugged her when after 3 weeks on this ward she walked in with hygiene supplies and asked if there was anything else she could get us. As time wore on, some nurses more than others did treat us better. There are a couple more names I wish I could remember that I would like to acknowledge . We were in that ward somewhere around 2 months. Throughout it all the social worker, Charmaine and the one PCC , again wish I could remember her name, were our saving graces. Thank you too all of you who put aside first appearances and helped my daughter in the initial days of the fall of life as she knew it.

I am a heart patient and was recently admitted to SMH. The Government has spent a lot of money on the expansion of this hospital – if only more care and diligence was taken to select the staff. I found the nurses in the Cardiac Care Unit unfriendly and unprofessional expect for one (she was a young nurse who went over and above her duty). There is a big difference between the day and night shifts, even with the same nurse. During the day they seem to be helpful (perhaps because doctors and management are around) but the night is a big change, when they become unfriendly and rude. With my heart ailment and I was afraid to ring the bell for help at night so as not to exacerbate my chest pain and stress, as I got an unfriendly response more often than not. A lot of the nurses take a nap during the night – you can see it on their faces if someone calls. I saw one nurse come into my room with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. One night, when the scheduled nurse called in sick, another nurse came in and she did not know how to set up the heart/blood pressure/Oxygen monitoring machine. On another night, the nurse started my blood pressure measurement remotely when the cuff was not even on my arm – it was hanging by my bed. I had to ring for help and tell the nurse before the cuff got over inflated and burst. One night, the 7pm-7am shift came in and one of the first things that they did was have a lottery to determine who got the first break and then announced in loudly for all the nurses (and patients) to hear. Some of the nurses’ command of english is not good. Most times, the incoming shift nurse would not come and introduce herself/himself to me and say she/he would be my nurse – so, I was not sure who my nurse was. It was a stressful experience for me and I hope I can go to a different hospital next time, if required. The SMH management can have someone go around the wards at night for a start and see it for themselves. My bed had some blood on the plastic railing from before I was admitted and was still there when I left. Being sick makes you weak and I was afraid to ask someone to clean it. It really was a nightmare for me.