Ward closure a shock to patients

A grateful patient receiving treatment on D2 ward at the Royal Oldham Hospital was shocked to read in the Chronicle that it will close within six weeks.

Kathleen Chester (82), from Chadderton, is recuperating on the women’s medical ward after a couple of bad falls.

And her care from nurses and doctors has been exemplary, she said.

Mrs Jackson, who has been on the ward for three weeks, and expects to be home within days, said: “I could not speak better of the treatment I am getting here.

“When I read this in the newspaper, if they’d taken my blood pressure it would have gone way up.

“It is an older ward, and I was not so impressed when I was transferred here from another ward, but that is the last thing on my mind now, the atmosphere is so nice.

“There are 22 on the ward. A lot of the patients are quite ill and not as vocal as me, but there is a very strong feeling, as it seems so unwarranted.

“The staff naturally can’t say very much, but they are concerned about their jobs and where they will be transferred to, and will there be the same level of services?”

And a fellow patient being treated for a chest infection and pneumonia for the past five weeks added: “I felt absolutely terrible when I read it.

“I have nothing but praise for the doctors, nurses, volunteers and cleaners. They are a team and I would not like to see it broken up. They are so busy they are rushed off their feet.”

Steve Taylor, from the Pennine Acute Trust, has told the Chronicle all the staff will be redeployed to other areas within the hospital, either to provide rapid response to acute patients or improve nurse ratios on other medical wards, when the 23 beds close.

The move will improve care, reduce the lengths of hospital stays and cut risks of health care acquired infections, he said, and is in line with best practice.