So I’m currently in St Marks hospital at Central Middlesex Hospital (CMH). It’s the first time in about 5 years that I’ve been an inpatient under St Marks but even then that was at Northwick Park Hospital (NPH) so it’s my first time at CMH. The last few years I’ve spent an awful lot of time as an inpatient at QMC in Nottingham and I’ve gotten used to the staff and routines there so being in a different hospital is a new experience. So how different is St Marks to QMC?
The hospital:
CMH is in North Acton and all around are flats, shops and according to the sign when I drive past, Europes biggest industrial estate. There’s no A&E; only an urgent treatment centre. It has a small Costa and WH Smith in the main entrance and a restaurant on the 2nd floor that’s pretty small and serves a limited menu. Just across the road is a Greggs and an Asda is a couple of minutes walk away. Although it was opened 15 years ago it still seems like quite a new hospital with everything shiny and clean. And to say it’s a London hospital car parking is surprisingly easy and not hugely more expensive than at QMC.
QMC is definitely a bigger hospital and has a very busy A&E department that features on Channel 4’s ‘24 hours in A&E’. It has a 24 hour Costa, a fairly big shop that stocks Co-op branded goods, a cafe, a pharmacy and a clothes shop all in the main entrance. There’s also a big restaurant and a couple of smaller cafes based in other departments. It’s set on the ring road so there’s not many other shops or cafes nearby. It’s older and seems tired and grubby in places and car parking is a bloody nightmare.
One big difference between the hospitals is that at QMC everything is electronic- drug charts, admission ‘paperwork’, observations- so it was very strange to come here and see them doing everything on paper. When I was admitted I think the poor nurse had to sign and date her name about 50 times!! I’ve seen signs up around CMH saying they’re moving onto electronic systems soon so maybe next time I come that transition will have taken place.
The ward:
The ward I’m on at CMH is Gladstone 4. It’s on the first floor and looks out onto the main entrance of the hospital. I’ve got a lovely view of the bus stops, the flats opposite and Greggs. It’s quite a big ward, although it only has 14 beds and is made up of bright airy single sex bays and some individual rooms which are mainly used for patients that need isolating for whatever reason. I’m in a bay with 3 other ladies and we share a bathroom. There’s a small patient kitchen where you can make a cup of tea but no other facilities that I’ve found. One thing I am impressed with is that the ward has a gym- I assume for use with the physiotherapists or occupational therapists; I don’t think you can just go in and use it but I will have to ask. I haven’t found a dayroom or anywhere to watch TV and there are no bedside TVs so if you don’t have data on your phone/tablet or have programmes downloaded it would be a nightmare. The signal is good- I’m easily able to stream TV shows and get 5g no problem. One thing I have struggled to get my head around is the fact that you’re not allowed off the ward after 9pm- they literally lock you in. Part of me feels indignant that I should be able to leave the ward any time I like (although in reality I’ve barely left my bed as I’m so exhausted!) but on the other hand it does make you feel safe knowing that people aren’t coming and going at all times of the night.
In contrast F22 at QMC is a 20 Bex ward mainly made up of single rooms, each with their own bathroom so I’ve become spoilt and gotten used to that. Some of the rooms have their own fridges which is handy for storing snacks and drinks. There are bedside TVs for all the beds where it’s free to watch channels 1-5 from 6am to midday but after that you have to pay and the prices are extortionate. I refuse to pay now and stick to watching the tv during the free times and then using my phone/tablet to stream tv shows. There is free nhs wifi but only for browsing the web, it doesn’t let you download or watch tv using it but the 5g signal is strong. F22 is on the top floor of the hospital and when the temperature rises in the summer the ward is like a sauna. There is a dayroom with a tv, books and games which you can use and is good for when the family come to visit if you want to get out of your room. There’s a cold water dispenser and a kitchen on the ward that technically should be staff only but patients do use to make tea/coffee or put things in the fridge/freezer.
Food:
The menu at St Marks is very limited and being vegetarian this restricts the menu further. It’s the same menu every single day so if you were here for more than a week it would become extremely repetitive. Breakfast is cereal, toast or yogurt and then lunch and dinner is chosen from the menu.
One thing that I am happy about is that they do pizza and garlic bread (which are ‘safe’ foods for me) and I could happily eat pizza every day of the week, which is what I’ve done so far!
In the patient kitchen there is tea, coffee and mint teabags aswell as biscuits and packets of crisps that you can help yourself to.
At QMC the menu changes daily and there is always a vegetarian option. Being a nutrition ward we get extra options, such a the option to have a hot cooked breakfast instead of the usual toast and cereal that most wards are offered. The kitchen staff on the ward are fantastic and if the options offered aren’t suitable or you don’t like them then they will pretty much order you anything you like from the menu. They also have tins of Heinz soups, beans and spaghetti hoops in the cupboard at all times so you can always request these instead, along with sandwiches and toast. They also have biscuits and crisps readily available.
Staff:
Obviously I’ve gotten to know the staff on F22 very well given how much time I’ve spent there over the last couple of years. They are all amazing and so incredibly hard working. Obviously I can’t expect to know the staff at St Marks in the same way, although there is the odd nurse that was there when I was under them years ago and they do remember me. The main difference I’ve noticed is the speed in which things get done. At QMC if I ask for pain relief or tell them that my feed has finished then it’s sorted within minutes. Here at St Marks everyone has one speed- and it’s slow. I’ve waited 45 minutes on one occasion for pain relief and 60 minutes to have my feed taken down. I don’t think they’re short staffed as there seems to be plenty of nurses and healthcare assistants around; they just don’t seem to have a rush in their body! Don’t get me wrong, they’re all very nice and as the week has gone on I’ve gotten to know them a little bit but they definitely don’t work at the speed of the F22 nurses.
But despite that there is one difference that has made my stay at St Marks very pleasant and that’s the toilet paper. Yes, I did say toilet paper!! The stuff at QMC is simultaneously the thinnest loo roll you’ve ever seen whilst also being as rough as sandpaper. It’s so bad that I now take my own rolls into hospital with me otherwise my bottom ends up red raw and bleeding after a couple of days. But at St Marks it’s thick and soft and I’ve not had to break the loo roll out of my suitcase once!
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