A patient whose instinct for self-preservation made him withhold his name writes:

I know our country is in a trance of hero worship for our nurses.

I know that to criticise a nurse is tantamount to mugging an old lady.

And all of the individual nurses and auxiliaries who helped me seemed jolly nice people in themselves, too, but...

1. They talked to each other about me at times as if I wasn’t there, particularly when instructing students in my presence – in fact the patients seemed a relatively minor part of the business of the ward
2. Only one nurse actually introduced herself
3. I was endlessly asked the same questions in order that a succession of forms could be filled in
4. I was promised a ‘named nurse’ who would see to co-ordination of care throughout my stay – this didn’t happen
5. The morning after the op. I woke up at about 6.30am, in discomfort, to the sound of a very loud conversation going on within ten feet of my bed. This was one nurse telling another about her holiday, with photos to prove it. Neither so much as looked at me.
6. In mid-morning there was a loud row at the end of the ward involving nurses and auxiliaries of various grades. I think it was about rotas. The aftermath of the row continued over the morning. One nurse asked an auxiliary, next to my bed, how she felt about the criticism she received from a senior nurse during the row. “Destroyed” was the answer.

The Editor, who can never miss a chance to make a telling point, comments: Remember, the key to a productive customer-friendly climate is effective team leadership.