Hospitals in the UK are dirty, ill-managed and filled with gobby nurses. With many doctor's unreachable, uncaring and aloof. This documentary should not come as a surprise to anyone. My nearest hospital is Tameside General - I pray I'll never need to go to the horrible place. Fingers crossed!

The trust has appointed a barrister to protect staff and patients what a laugh.Look at the dress code at North Manchester it says it all, my sister was in there for 9 weeks very poorly through catching 2 deadly bugs, they wasn,t going to put her in a side ward
but would be putting her on a ward next to a sink and that came from the bed manager.I have visited many many times and have been disgusted at the attitude of staff .Always remember it,s not what you go in hospital with it,s what you come out with.I hpoe this programme tonigh shows North Manchester up for what it is. Complaints are not looked at in the maner they should be and untill they do they will never get it right

bang to rights by the sound of it!!!!!

North Manchester has always been fairly bad but it's not the only hospital. Unfortunately, I've also been in Hospital in London and Leicester and had my stays extended due to infections showing that privatised cleansing isn't working. Last year, in London my stay was extended by a week because about two minutes after a surgeon told me I could go home I had a haematoma which was two days before the election so I missed my chance to vote. But to make it worse, I was told that I had an infection (that they were going to discharge me with) as they moved me so a side room with no TV or no working radio so unable to walk I was bored to death. At the same hospital there are so many agency staff that sometimes attitudes are not perfect. In a lot of pain due to abdominal surgery and not feeling my best, an agency nurse closed the curtains around my bed on a ward at the same hospital and left me there for several hours making me totally depressed. So it's not just Pennine trust that is bad, it's the whole of our modern NHS and interference and privatisations by governments in the last 25 years. It appears to no longer be run for the benefit of the people, but more for the benefit of the staff.

when whatching these programmes that are 'filmed' to show how bad the NHS is you as an audience don't think about the amount of editing that these recordings go to. yes north manchester is struggling to cope and it will not be made any better by closing wards and removing beds. Nurses get angry with management and rightly so. these people get paid thousands of pounds to do more or less nothing. give the hospitals back to the nurses and the doctors that work hard to keep people alive, and experience first hand the problems that the NHS has rather than giving the job to a manager that hasnt cared for a patient for years and maybe never have cared for them. its the nursing staff that get the dirty jobs and they get paid the least. back in the day when nurses and doctors ran hospitals there was half the problems that they have today with the lazy money scrounging managers that do nothing! coming from a nursing background i know that managers dont have a clue what happens on the wards yet they always think they know best and treat poorly people as statistics and not the people that they are! stop rushing patients out the door because you need a bed for somebody because the person you sent home still unwell will return to the hospital poorly the next day and cause another bed crisis! its not the nurses fault the NHS is a mess!

Interesting how the Trust have drafted in the CQC, yet that very same body failed to detect anything in their earlier inspection only several months ago? All is not well with the NHS as patients and their families involved in the local Cure the NHS campaign can testify. We have been campagning for better standards in the south fo the city. Visit our website www.wythenshawehospital.com to find out more and share your experiences of the NHS.

What a shame these people can't go under cover to find people doing a really good job in our hospitals. They never report on good things.
quote "citycentre, manchester "- "It appears to no longer be run for the benefit of the people, but more for the benefit of the staff"
What benefit would that be?....the long hours? poor pay? Pay cuts? Pension cuts?Abuse and assaults from relatives and patients?
How dare you tar all NHS workers with the same brush! The majority of us work hard, with dedication, doing a job we love.

Hasn't the problem being to add to much service within a hospital? Instead of simple process of care and treatment. They have added amenities in way of hospitality in hotels. Also when you remove the discipline structure, you also remove accountability of staff. That is why cases of nurses and doctors making big errors cost lives or hinder recovery. As a regular visitor to North Manchester for my mother outpatient needs and rare inpatient event. Each process seems more akin to hotel management. Also why do nurses need to be reliant on computer processing anyway? The object is to care first instead of centralised behind a reception desk.

Absolutely disgusting and lazy journalism. The programme will show nothing that isn't happening at all hospitals up and down the country. The NHS is understaffed, with staff working long hours without any breaks etc. Yes, it isn't ideal but that's what the government have created. Will it go into abuse nurses, health care workers, doctors etc get from patients, familes etc ? No - as it all gets brushed under the carpet. If discussions have been filmed away from patients and in private, then surely that is illegal and against human rights? In addition, did the reporters in question use their real details when aquiring a CRB or did they falsify information? The NHS is at breaking point, and staff morale up and down the country is low, what will this achieve by filiming? Again, lazy, disgusting and out of order.

It's a shame that the documentary will not show abuse from patients or their families, which occur on a regular basis. Also, did the reporters give their real identies when applying for a CRB check, or did they give false information? If conversations have been filmed in private between staff, then they have the right to have their privacy honoured. Lazy journalism.
Yes, the NHS is at a crisis point, but it will be no different in any hosptial up and down the country. Increased patient numbers, lack of staff etc. It's no wonder that the front line staff have to deal with so much pressure, work long hours often with no breaks etc. This highlights nothing, yet what good will it do by airing it on national tv? Staff morale in the NHS is at an all time low, lets kick them while the're down shall we.
Again, disgraceful journalism.

The nurses and support workers on 1 of these wards that were filmed are the best team that i have ever seen, they are so caring and proffesional to all of their patients, how you think a couple of hours of editted footage can show how the real ward works is beyond me, i dont think it is going to show the good things about this ward, the staff going way beyond what they should be doing, the concern of patients going home to an empty house and fighting to get them some proper care, patients crying when they are leaving becouse the staff have been so kind to them. No that would not make good viewing, these prodution companies should really take a good look at the so called managment staff and see were the failings really are, ward managers that have not nursed for years being put back on a ward becouse there is no were else to put them, line managers walking around with there head up ther own backsides thinking they are above everyone else, these are the people who are in charge, this is were the real problem lies not at the staff level, these are the people who take an excellent team who have worked together for years support workers, nurses , OTs, phisois, ward clark and domestic and decide to close the ward, its disgusting and NMGH will have lost the best team that they have.

"appointed a barrister" - Utterly offensive response and utterly offensive use of taxpayer's money.

Hospitals & PCTs urgently need to be prevented from lavishing huge amounts of our money on protecting their reputations.

From barristers to PR agencies to design consultancies and marketing departments, this money should ONLY go on patient healthcare.

Cure the NHS North West is a support group for people who have experienced poor care. Our members tell heart breaking stories. Pennine Acute Trust, which runs North Manchester and the Royal Oldham comes in for a lot of criticism among our members, but not exclusively, as many of our local hospitals are badly affected, especailly when it comes to elderly care. We meet twice per month and welcome anyone who has experienced poor care to add their voice to ours. janet.watkin@healthtorch.org Tel: 07791427888.

Mark Andrew. What is offensive is someone coming into a high pressure environment that is under staffed, and pushed beyond capacities like every hospital up and down country, and filming them at their place of work doing their jobs - without their consent. Why Channel 4 didn't show the trust the footage to the trust is down to that it will selective editing to make a progamme more damning to the hospital. In a way the same way many reality tv shows are cut together. So in this case, why shouldn't the trust protect its staff? They have families, mortgages etc as well, If you clock the hours that some of the staff will do with no breaks, its no wonder that many come out of nursing completely. Maybe we should take a leaf out of our American cousins and ditch the NHS altogther and go for a system based on the abilty to pay? We would moan then.

Having worked in the British field hospital in Afghanistan and several other trusts in the North of England, I feel honoured to say that I have worked at North Manchester General. There are some excellent nurses and doctors in that hospital and I would confidently let them look after my own family.The staff work well as a team and get on with their difficult job, in increasingly difficult circumstances with a sence of humour and the occasional swear word. Morale is low in most NHS hospital at the moment, these are uncertain times, but the compassion and care displayed by staff at crumpsall should be applauded. Well done guys.
I shall be boycotting Dispatches because NHS professionals that care, just arn't newsworthy.

Having watched the programme tonight there is a great deal of truth in the claims. The CEO doesnt come across well. The poor people of Rochdale and Bury are about to be pushed to the North Manchester hospital against their wishes. And it can't cope as it is now!!! Shocking.

Thank you Channel 4 for doing this Dispatches' Undercover Hospital. I saw my elderly & proud parents receive some dreadful, uncaring treatment at the hands of many nurses in a prestigious hospital. The uncaring treatment was not through a lack of funds or nursing staff but just a lack of basic human kindness from this 'caring profession'. What an awful way to have to end one's life. I am now at retirement age & I am terrified that I will one day end my days in one of these monstrous geriatric wards. I hasten to add that I have family working in the medical profession so I am well aware of all the problems in these hospitals but sadly they feel exactly the same way about the lack of dignity & basic care. What hope is there for improvement when the Chief Executive is in complete denial. We all know how wonderful most of the staff can be but unfortunately it is the bad experiences that stay with you forever. The only way to deal with the poor & unacceptable care given to the vulnerable is to keep doing programmes like this. Thank you Channel 4 - keep up the good work.

After watching this progamme and seeing the response of John Saxby when pressed to answer questions that were clearly too hard for him, HE HAS NOWHERE TO HIDE !!!! . He and his board should go and let the Hospitals be run by staff who actually care on the quality of service they can provide and not those who seek to try and get patients in and out in record time !!

Watched the programme between flicking over from the match. Like man city you have no defence. My wife died there 11yrs ago at the age of 40. Your treatment of paitents is absolutely disgraceful. The camera does'nt lie !!!!!!!!

I spent some time in Salford A & E a few years ago after being taken by ambulance due to breathing difficulties (I have heart failure condition). After being "processed" I was left in an open cubicle for four hours before being moved to the A & E "overflow " ward. I was attended to there, but spent four hours waiting for a bed before being moved again. Then waiting in a "lounge area" for a further few hours before finally getting a bed in an orthopaedic ward. During this time the word "target" was bandied around. From what I could gather, as I had not spent more than four hours in any one place they were not breaking any targets.

It's about time the care at NMGH is highlighted. I have an aunt being treated there, and to say her care is bad is an understatement. She is terminally ill with cancer, she laid in a hospital bed for 14 weeks before they finally decided to do anything, as she had no next of kin the hospital kept back information from her carers (her sisters), and so the family didnt have a clue what was happening to her despitae repeatedly asking. There was just no communication between departments and doctors. Eventually she had a small amount of treatment to relieve pain at Christies and they couldnt even arrange the transportation right and no one arrived to take her for her first appointment for radiotherapy. Sadly 2 weeks ago she fell and was taken to NMGH again, she was x-rayed and sent home after doctors found she was ok(!). After a night of severe pain she was seen by a locum doctor who contacted the hospital and requested they look at her xrays again, she had in fact a broken hip that was there for even an amateur to see. Appalling care in my opinion. She is 74, but that shouldnt mean she is treated any differently to anyone else.
This isnt the first critism I have of this hospital. My uncle died here of MRSA, my Husband eventually got an emergency operation on his bladder,after 18 months of severe pain that they couldnt understand why he had. My friend died here aged 37 after being given the wrong drugs, my grandma fell out of bed after we advised the nurses she needed a side bar to protect her and they didnt think she needed one resulting in massive bruising.
I recently had a small amount of dental surgery done here and whilst waiting for it to be done there are nurses just stood around talking. Is it any wonder there are delays in treatment. I finally got my treatment 90 minutes after my appointment. I honestly wouldn't send an animal to this hospital.

As both an NHS employee and service user with mixed experiences, I believe that poor care and standards should be exposed, but whether undercover reporting is the right medium to do this is questionable. Although appropriate action should be taken against some of the staff who demonstrated a complete lack of professionalism and compassion in this programme. However, to fool a member of staff into discussing issues such as bed shortages with who they perceive to be another member of staff is highly immoral. It makes sense that staff discuss such issues with each other. They are not breaching patient confidentiality or acting unprofessionally, but now it seems that staff can no longer trust their peers.

its true the hospital (Royal Oldham) has arrogant and impolite staff....i went for oral surgery and after i had 5 teeth removed i was ill for days.... i told the surgeon i could feel what he was doing and i was in pain...i then held my hand up.. and his nurse grabbed my arm and held it down.....on a second visit i explained i had a bad experiance previously and i also had a bad phobia regards to dentists and i didnt want that many teeth removing againg in one go...the surgeon said "NO" we will take out a few ....again i said no i wasnt up to it just take out one ..he again Demanded he take a few out......i said no i only want you to remove one.....the surgeon further insisted on removing more so i walked out and said i was going to make a complaint.....the nurse after a few moments came running out and said ok we will just take one...i said no not after the way i was treated it was discusting the way i was dealt with

It is the mark of a badly run institution when the boss tries to silence criticism rather than learning from it.

As a nurse I agree they never secretly film how hard we work. My friend works on MAU at north manchester and they work very hard as a lot of nurses do. However, the nursing staff on C3 should be named and shammed. To treat patients like that both trained and untrained nurses, is disgusting. They dont deserve to be called nurses!!
The majority of nurses care a great deal about their role and the patients they look after. The problem lies with management many of whom have no nursing background, but business background!!Nurse are used as an escape goat for bad management decisions.