New process in place for missing hospital pillows

Royal Surrey County Hospital said pillows go missing when patients transfer

A Surrey hospital has introduced a process to ensure its pillows are returned as a patient said her father had to bring some in for her.

Royal Surrey County Hospital said pillows often went missing when patients were discharged to other care settings.

One patient said not having a pillow was "just awful" during her stay at the Guildford hospital.

A hospital spokesperson apologised for any supply issues but said no formal complaints had been received.

'A necessity'

Maisie Puddifoot, 30, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that she was in the hospital for a few days with pneumonia in October.

She said: "Having no pillow was just awful.

"A pillow just seems like almost a necessity when you’re bed-bound for days."

After asking on numerous occasions for a pillow, Ms Puddifoot claimed a nurse tried to make her a pillow "using a pillow case and a folded up towel".

Having difficulty breathing, she said she needed to be "as upright as possible" and that two days after she was first admitted, her dad brought in a couple of pillows for her.

A Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said: "Although we have received no formal complaints about this, we do know that pillows often go missing from our hospitals when patients are discharged to other care settings.

"We have recently established a process to make sure they are returned to us promptly and have set up better purchasing and operational practices to try to avoid shortages.

"We would like to apologise if there have been any supply issues."