Some of the nurses were okay, but the foreign nurses – one Portuguese nurse – she couldn’t understand me and I couldn’t understand her, which I find is distressing because English isn’t their language, and you’re trying to tell them that you’ve got this problem, and apologising, and then they go away and leave you. Or they bring the commode with no pan in the bottom. That happened two or three times in the night.

How can you sit on the commode with the diarrhoea and no pan in the bottom? My daughter-law brought my own toilet rolls. They went missing, and then they didn’t bring any toilet rolls. It was a bit of a distressing experience. I don’t think I want to go through it again. Intensive care was wonderful – but not back in the ward. Didn’t like it. Very upsetting. I was glad to get home, although really I could have done with a few more days, though once I came home, I still had the diarrhoea – severely – my daughter-law, she stayed with me.

But these foreign nurses, to my mind they’re not proper, they’re not nurses. They do a job. Let’s be fair. They’re doing their best, but they can’t understand you. They don’t know what you are speaking about. It’s a shame. It is a shame. So I hope I don’t have to go back anymore [laughs]. Please God, I don’t go back anymore.

But you see it’s, I say this over and over again. It’s people, dear. You’re mixed with all sorts of people, and some people just don’t care about anybody else. They’re very selfish. You know they clatter about. They talk loud on the phone. They, at night, they’ve got their TVs on late at night. I didn’t have that. I couldn’t be bothered with TVs. I was too ill. But you could hear them laughing at something, and then their visitors stayed until late at night, and I don’t agree with that. The visitors, five and six people round the bed, and there are supposed to be two. And they’re all round the bed until late at night. And little children. It’s out of order. No-one – theres no discipline. Nobody puts their foot down and says, you must go home. They don’t. You go next to – all day and all night they were coming in, bringing their families in. All round the bed, kids were sitting on the bed. That’s where the germs come from.

And the night staff – they start laughing and talking, noisy, at 11 o’clock at night, which I think is not on.

And the light’s still on in the ward at 11 o’clock at night – well that’s – silly things like that but it makes all the difference. Nurses come on, and they’re all laughing, talking. People want to go to sleep. I was so glad to get into my bed and have a proper sleep. You don’t get sleep in the ward – it’s a well known fact. Someones always poorly. I was poorly. My light was going on at one and two in the morning. I was apologising to everybody all the time. I’m sorry, I was upset. I didn’t want to upset anyone. I never had a phone, or a TV. Girls were on the phone at 12 o’clock at night, on their phone. You can hear every word they say. Things like that can disturb you. So I was glad to get home, I really was.