"I went in for a Hernia Op. choose ..."

What I liked

I went in for a Hernia Op. choose royal free as it had lowest wait time for the appointment. got appointment with the specialist who was very nice, funny and pleasant who reassured me and made me feel comfortable and confident about my surgery. great news was that i was lucky enough to have the op a week later. Nurses were great, very helpful and kind and made me realxed i was quite nervous and a little sacred as i never had surgery before. Pre admission nurses were great to quick fun and explained everything. all areas i visited were very clean, theatre staff were nice and kind and funny, especially the anaesthetist. The SHO was very good, helpful and kind. i thought i would help out the students they were nice and respectful. One person in particular in recovery was very good at their job and very nice, woke up drowsy and in pain they were very attentive and helped me get more comfortable.

I was embarrassed about my condition but everyone involved with my treatment were very nice and caring.

What could be improved

There are only a few minor things i would improve.

Firstly, give the trust more money to improve the waiting area for patients better chairs, nicer areas rather than a line of chairs down a corridor for the outpatient clinics.

Secondly, for the day case unit the check in and waiting areas need to improve. if everyone is coming at 7.30am to check in for day case you will need more people to check them in and to take a seat, there was about 20 people all checking in at 7.30am, the staff who were trying their best but do need more help. The information given at pre admission should be passed onto check in staff or the information checked before passing to them, why provide next of kin, gp details twice?

Thirdly i would love to know if a solution could be made as to what time surgery is likely to take place, i understand that some people don't turn up there for those scheduled for later in the afternoon still have to get there for 7.30am in the chance that they may be seen earlier because someone else hasn't turned up. Its just boring, and tire some waiting untill 2pm for the surgery. The nurses were great they did tell me i could go and come back for midday, and the would call me if anything changed. but i decided not to go to far just walked around the hospital and the local hight street starving as i was not allowed to eat anything.

Anything else?

Royal Free was a good choice for me. i was given 5 choices of hospitals. I selected Royal Free because of wait time for surgery, distance to me, infection rates , cleanliness and other user comments.