Tregaron Hospital
I arrived at Tregaron Hospital after a long drive from Hampshire. I was bursting, so I had little time to take in the tarpaulins and scaffolding, the decay and damp. I sprinted down the narrow, ill-lit entry corridor and found a sign reading “Visitors’ WC”.
Phew!
There was no Merched / Dynion sign so I assumed it was uni-sex. This is deeply Welsh-speaking Wales. It was just a loo, the sort you’d find in a very run-down provincial pub. It was far from clean, not what I expected from a hospital.
The big surprise came when I finished. There was no washhand basin. There was no facility at all for washing one’s hands.
That’s disgusting. Ach-y-fi! as my mother (and I) would have cried. A public hospital, in the fourth richest country in the world, and no way to wash your hands after going to the loo? How could that possibly have been allowed? I was revolted.
About a hundred yards away along a corridor I discovered a bottle of foaming cleanser on a window sill. I lathered my hands with it, and dried them on my socks.
Only then could I go in to visit my agèd aunt. The ward itself was pleasant enough, despite the several warning notices telling me that I may NOT sit on the bed. I was stunned in disbelief. Was there really no hand washing facility for visitors?
I can’t get over it.
I don’t know what the Welsh for “Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here” is, but it wouldn’t make a bad slogan to paste over the door. I have seldom visited a more cheerless, unwelcoming, depressing environment than Tregaron Hospital since I left school. The local NHS should be ashamed of themselves. The hospital appears to share its premises with a police station.
Aren’t they breaking the law by not providing washing facilities?
Ach-y-fi! Ach-y-fi!
April 8th, 2010 at 17:14
I contacted the National Health Service about this and they responded as follows:
Dear Mr Headley
Thank you for your email regarding the facilities at Tregaron Hospital. I have taken the liberty of forwarding your email onto the patient support services officer in Ceredigion who will be dealing with your concerns. She will respond to you in due course.
Regards
Lynda Bridgwood
That was on March 30th. Nothing since. I will post the reply here, when / if I get it.
May 11th, 2010 at 13:20
On March 30 I had the above email from the NHS saying they would be notifying the patient support services officer in Ceredigion about this blog.
That’s the last I’ve heard. Six weeks have passed.
May 11th, 2010 at 21:55
I so totally agree! Not saying anything about the care my mother (Gwyn’s aunt) received at Tregaron, but why do we tolerate these ancient buildings? Sentiment? It’s not fair on the staff, and certainly not on the patients. They cannot help but be treated as passive, docile old people – and my mother is an intelligent woman. The fact that she is 96 years old makes no difference. Preserve the facilities by all means, but upgrade them, and make them fit and decent places for staff, patients and visitors.
May 13th, 2010 at 10:15
After a gentle reminder, finally a reply. This is from Maz Hadfield, Swyddog Gwasanaeth Cefnogaeth Cleifion / Patient Support Services Officer, Bwrdd Iechyd Hywel Dda / Hywel Dda Health Board:
I apologise for the delay in providing you with a response to the concerns you have raised via your internet blog. However, I can confirm that the issues you have mentioned have been investigated in line with the Health Board’s complaints procedure.
Upon inspection of the toilet facilities in Tregaron Hospital, during the course of our investigations, they were found to be clean. I can reassure you that the toilets are checked twice daily by hotel services staff. In addition to this, the hand washing facility is located in a separate room directly next to the toilet, and the door of this facility is clearly labelled.
The Health Board apologises that you felt that the facilities were inadequate on the day you visited, however I can confirm that a notice will be erected shortly informing visitors of the hand washing facility in the next room, and a cleaning schedule will be put up to ensure that the correct monitoring procedures are being undertaken.
Thank you very much for bringing this to our attention; it is always useful to receive feedback from patients and their families in order to highlight any areas which may need attention. If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me on 01970 635824.
May 13th, 2010 at 10:23
OK, a notice will be put up telling people where they can wash their hands. That’s a step forward. Neither Yvonne nor I were able to discover the “clearly labelled facility” next door to the toilet, despite searching for it with some urgency, and we’re quite good at reading both English and Welsh. I can only conclude that on that day the ‘clear label’ had fallen off or got covered up.
So, a positive result. Thank you for responding, NHS. However, I repeat that the loo was far from clean, and although it may now check the boxes for acceptable standards, visually it simply looked grubby. That feeling was intensified by our inability to get our hands washed.
May 13th, 2010 at 10:48
So often this happens: you make a genuine complaint, politely and without anger, and the response – if it comes at all – comes in the form of a defensive, self-justifying bland message that clearly implies you were wrong. Passive-aggressive, CYA behaviour that only infuriates the complainer and so achieves the opposite of the responder’s intention. Instead of shutting you up and making the problem go away, it makes you want to tell others. The ‘Patient Support Services Officer’ has left you feeling neither patience, nor supported, nor served.
February 28th, 2011 at 13:43
I would like to add my two penneth worth to this thread.
My father is currently in the paliative care suite at Tregaron Hospital and everything i have read in this thread is absolute rubbish. The hospital is clean and well represented by staff. The staff are the most welcoming I have ever seen in a hospital and the care offered is second to none. Anywhere.
The toilets that have been slated are always in perfect order and are maintained to the highest standard. The person who wrote the first comment in this thread should get over themselves and realise that the visitor toilets do not have to be the equivalent of a 5* hotel toilets!! There is a well signposted handwash basin in the room next to the toilet – anyone who missed that needs to clean their glasses never mind their hands!
The patient toilets are new and modern and are very well equipped to provide for the patients.
I am thrilled that my father is able to spend his dying days at Tregaron Hospital and anyone reading this should ignore the stuck up comments of those above.
Tregaron hospital is set in beautiful surroundings and has the best personal care anywhere. If I end up dying in hospital, I hope I am there.
March 24th, 2011 at 22:26
Well it was with the greatest relief that you posted your comments Matt – My sister is currently in Tregaron Hospital and is likely to be there for some time. I live in Canada so havent any idea what the hospital is like – I must say that the staff are always very friendly and nice when I call regularly and my sister seems to be cared for well.
So thank you for putting my mind at rest as I was very concerned when I read the first postings.
February 14th, 2012 at 17:00
I would like to respond to the ladies comment on Tregaron hospital. My mother has just been admitted in the last week after visiting my wife and I in Wales and breaking a hip. She is ninety two and has had several hospital stays in Birmingham in the last few years. She is overwhelmed with the pleasent outlook and the attentive and kind staff at this hospital being far superior to the care she received in the midlands. I can only assume this lady visited while a renovation was taking place when some disruption is inevitable. Regarding the toilet I checked it myself and found it to be perfectly clean and the washbasin is next door. I suspect the sign may have been knocked off but surely she has a tongue in her head and could have asked a member of staff where to wash her hands. The building is perfectly adequate and just because it is not state of the art modern as maybe the ones in Hampshire are I am personally pleased taxpayers money has not been wasted. Frankly I have never heard such a fuss about nothing, I hope for your sake nothing really goes wrong in your life.