"The Doctor I saw was quiet, thoughtful, ..."

What I liked

The Doctor I saw was quiet, thoughtful, kind and informative, The cafe was very comfortable and friendly and saved me from going insane whilst dealing with the rest of the hospital.

What could be improved

There were barely any alchohol hand washers ANYWHERE! . I had to search for them. Kingston Hospital has them outside every ward, and inside every ward, on corridoors, at reception desks... here I couldn't find one and the hospital looked very dirty. So much so that I was keen to clean my hands on the way out. I asked for alchohol wash at reception because there was none on show, and was given a bottle out of a cupboard under the counter!! - She said they only give it out when asked as they are not obliged to have it on show when it's not technically a clinical area. - It's appalling! It's still visitors first and last point of call and therefore an essential place to have it. Has anyone here HEARD of MRSA? or HYGEINE. Also the car parking was barely signposted at all from the road and NOT AT ALL if you overshot it and turned into the hospital itself and it was unclear that you had to pay at a pay station before leaving. I assumed you paid in your car on the way out - there were several other people who thought the same and there was a queue of people trying to get out with someone at the front trying to reverse as they hadn't paid at the pay station in the car park. It was chaos. Whilst I was driving round the hospital premises trying to find somewhere to park, I stopped to ask a hospital employee where the car park was and was told "there isn't one, you just have to find somewhere on the street".

Anything else?

When I received my follow up appointment details in the post, I needed to change the date due to the appointment being when I was on holiday. I phoned the switchboard and asked if they could tell me the number of the clinic and then also put me through. She ignored my question and just put me through. I hung on for 10 MINUTES with no reply. I put the phone down and tried again. This time I said to the receptionist - "please don't put me through to anyone, I just want the extension number of this department. She said "hold on" then put me on 'silent' hold indefinitely without putting me through to anywhere and without saying another word. This happened at approximately 11.25 am on Monday 22nd June and I think this receptionist should be disciplined for treating patients in such an outrageous and rude manner - at the point when they are powerless to do anything about it.