We know how important it is for patients and families to be able to see visitors. Please help us keep our patients and staff as safe as possible by checking the guidance below before you visiting.
Read more on visiting times...
We recognise the impact that a long stay in hospital can have on families and the importance of maintaining strong communication. Our ward staff are keeping in touch with patients’ next of kin directly and our Voluntary Services team can help pass on personal messages from family and friends.
After suspending visiting earlier in the year, we are now able to offer limited visiting to some wards at the discretion of the nurse in-charge.”
Read more on visiting times...
We recognise the impact that a long stay in hospital can have on families and the importance of maintaining strong communication. Our ward staff are keeping in touch with patients’ next of kin directly and our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can help pass on personal messages from family and friends.
The Queen Alexandra Hospital is located just on the hill slopes of Portsdown Hill overlooking Portsmouth. It is conveniently situated for both the M27 and A3M.
Family members and carers play an important role in supporting patients during an episode of ill health. We are committed to the active involvement of family members, friends and carers during a hospital stay. Family members and carers play an important role in supporting patients during an episode of ill health.
More information on visiting hospital for an appointment.
If you've had experience of using our services and would like to make a comment then please contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). Your views are very important to us and we would like to hear where you think improvements are needed or where things have gone so well that you would like to share your thanks or gratitude with the staff involved. When things have not gone so well then you can be sure that we want to hear from you, so please get in touch with PALS.
During your stay in hospital you will meet a number of different members of staff. All members of staff wear name badges, but if you are not sure who someone is or what they do, please feel free to ask them to introduce themselves and explain what they do.
If you have any questions about your treatment, please ask a doctor or a nurse.
There are lots of opportunities for you to get involved with the Trust, from volunteering to attending our public meetings, our Annual General Meeting or our hospital open day which is held every year.
We welcome and value your feedback and use the views you share with us in a number of ways to learn and make improvements as well as sharing best practice. Feedback can be provided in a number of ways.
Date: 12 October 2021
The Emergency Department (ED) is busy at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU) and there are many people working hard to make sure the service is here for those who need it. One of those people is Adam Mundell, charge nurse in ED and we’ve caught up with him as part of NHS England's 'Next Generation of Nursing' initiative to hear why he chose nursing as a career.
How long have you been a nurse?
I started training at Birmingham City University in 2012 and qualified in 2015, so six years in total. I started working for PHU in trauma and orthopaedics in 2015 and then moved to ED in 2016 where I’ve stayed ever since.
How would you explain your role?
The role entails typical nursing care of patients, including administering drugs but also cannulation, taking bloods, ECGs and taking care of unwell patients and those with complex conditions, as well as triaging patients who come to ED by ambulance or walk in.
It also involves the running of the department as the nurse in charge, so I deal with staff allocation, safety huddles with operational teams and matrons, and help address any queries, feedback or complaints from patients and support the general wellbeing of the team in the department that day. It’s incredibly busy and we all need to make sure we’re looking out for each other.
Why did you decide nursing was the career path for you?
Initially I had applied for the Royal Navy as a pilot and was accepted, but sadly had my first epileptic seizure, so no Navy career for me!
I was then due to start my paramedic degree when I was informed my epilepsy would again be an issue due to the driving, so I sort of fell into nursing, but knowing I always wanted to be an ED nurse (blame me as a child watching casualty and wanting to be like Charlie!), but it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened.
How does working closely with patients impact your everyday life?
Days in our busy ED tend to blur into one, but there are often patients and families you don’t forget who make an impact on you, often those who are very unwell who you can either help, reassure or comfort.
It’s the type of environment where you don’t ever feel like you make a difference then you receive a card or a thank you letter from a patient or family member and remember that while it’s a “normal” day for you, to the patients its possibly one of their worst days, and the care and compassion you show means an awful lot to them.
Your role is unique within PHU – why is that?
Male nurses are still a small number in the grand scheme of the nursing workforce, male charge nurses even more so. It’s very much breaking the stereotype of a ‘typical’ nurse and helping make the profession more modern and inclusive.
What is the most important thing people need to know about nursing?
The job is portrayed very differently from what you might see on TV or social media. We are highly-skilled, degree educated decision makers who really get to make a difference to the care our patients receive.
What is something you wish you’d have known when you started?
Not so much something I wish I’d known but some words of wisdom from my mentor in my first ever placement as a student, CN Lyndon Hendrickson-Sealey, who sadly died of covid this year:
“It’s a tough career and if you take the job home it will get you, find something to do every day that makes you laugh. Learn how to leave work at work and come through the door with a smile. Then, you’ll be ok.”
Any advice for someone thinking about nursing as a career?
It’s tough, but worth it. It’s not a normal university degree but it is a great university degree! Sometimes you’ll cry with sadness other times with laughter but to me, it’s the most rewarding career and one I love dearly.
For more information about the NextGen Nursing initiative, please visit: https://www.england.nhs.uk/
