A RETIRED nurse has hit out at “disgusting” standards of care on two wards at the Royal Oldham Hospital.

Dorothy Fogg, aged 77, has told of being shouted at by a nurse on ward T6 at the hospital for being unable clean herself and soiling an incontinence pad.

Mrs Fogg, who suffers from multiple medical conditions, says she was transferred to ward G1 – because T6 was closing for the weekend – she was refused access to a commode.

She said that because she was forced to use bed pans many times during her stay on G1 her umbilical hernia has been made significantly worse.

Mrs Fogg, of Richmond Walk, told The Oldham Times: “When I was on T6 I needed to go to the toilet, and I told the nurse I couldn’t do it unassisted, but she just shouted at me and I was forced to clean myself, which resulted in me soiling the incontinence pad.

“What she did was disgusting and in my opinion she is not fit to be a nurse.”

After being moved to G1, Mrs Fogg says she was told it was “ward policy” for commodes not to be allowed.

“They told me this was to protect patients’ dignity,” she said. “What could be more undignified and painful than having to use bed pans repeatedly with an umbilical hernia?

“I am appalled by the treatment I received and as a direct result I am in a lot of pain.”

Mrs Fogg’s medical conditions include meniere’s syndrome, anaemia caused by a vitamin B12 deficiency, asthma, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, obstructive pulmonary disease, spinal spondylosis, angina pectoris, Raynaud’s disease, a femoral hernia and hiatus hernia.

A spokesman for the hospital said: “We are sorry to hear that Mrs Fogg is unhappy with some of the care she has received at the Royal Oldham Hospital.

"We are currently looking into the circumstances to establish what if anything went wrong and identify where we can improve if this is necessary.

"It is our preference to promote patient independence and we will support patients to go to the bathroom where possible rather than use a bedpan. Our goal is to always give every patient we treat the best care they could possibly receive.

"We would like to invite Mrs Fogg to contact us directly if she would like to discuss her care in more detail.”