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Hospital Apologizes for Ghost Nurse
by Samantha Srillian A Welsh hospital has issued an apology
to a Cancer patient after a nurse claiming to be a medium told her that
she had seen a ghost on the ward.
Gillian Davies, 48, complained about this incident, along with the
general level of care she received at Glan Clwyd Hospital in
Denbighshire, near Rhyl.
The ghost incident occurred while Mrs Davies was convalescing from a partial mastectomy and still under the influence of anaesthetic. As a result, she thought
that the ghost was a sign that she was going to die. She said: “I know
it sounds silly now but I thought the ghost had come to get me. I was
very vulnerable at the time. It would be funny if it was not so
serious. But at the time I didn’t know if I was going to live or die.”
Mrs Davies said that the nurse came running down the hospital corridor
after spotting the ‘ghost’. She said: “She said she had seen a spirit
but not to worry, that she was a medium. The nurse told us that she was
psychic, and that it was all right, she only saw friendly spirits.”
After Mrs Davies tried to complain about the incident, she was merely
told to ignore the offending nurse, as “that was what she was like”.
However, after making a formal complaint against Conwy and Denbighshire NHS trust,
an independent review found the incident to be “unprofessional.” The
review deduced, “The issue here is in a nurse being extremely
unprofessional and I would suggest this type of behaviour would cause
more than upset to patients.” It also found that the hospital had
“completely skirted over” the “rather strange issue” of the psychic
nurse, as well as providing a general level of care that was not
acceptable.
Mrs Davies also complained that despite the sensitive nature of her surgery,
she was placed on a mixed ward at the hospital. In addition to this,
she also alleged that her case notes were left on the bed, allowing her
to view the results of her biopsy
without any support. Ms Davies made further allegations about her
standard of care at the hospital, claiming that she was made to shower
and dress herself alone and that the ward was unclean.
The review concluded that there “is very little doubt that the nursing care
experienced by Mrs Davies fell well below an acceptable standard.” This
conclusion prompted Jill Galvani, director of nursing, to make a full
apology to Mrs Davies. She said: "We apologize to Mrs Davies that the
standards of care fell below her expectations during her stay in Glan
Clwyd Hospital. We can confirm that a complaint made by Mrs Davies was
referred for an independent review. This was referred back to the trust
with a number of recommendations.”
Speaking of the independent review’s findings, Mrs Davies said: “I am
not after compensation or anything like that. I just want something
done so that other women do not have to go through what I experienced.
The episode with the psychic nurse was creepy and scary but hospital
bosses only spoke to the nurse – they didn’t discipline her.”
Source:
BBC
Western Mail
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