"The Porters at BRI"

[This review and rating relates solely to the Porters at BRI (see my other reviews in relation to A&E, Ward 27, Ward 28 and the Doctors.] A 14 day stay in hospital and was ferried on a bed/stretcher between A&E / Ward 27 / Ward 28 / Ultra-sound / X-ray / Plaster Room x 3. All of the Porters were excellent. The thing that became apparent to me pretty much straight-away was how the majority of the doors in the hospital were NOT automatic movement-sensor operated. This meant the porters had to wheel the stretcher up to a door, then walk round the bed - open the doors and then pull/push the stretcher through the doors. If you know BRI you will know that is quite a few doors between Wards 27/28 and A&E/X-ray/Ultra-sound. Looking at the useless TV units fitted above each bed that in 14 days I only saw one patient use for a few hours, it is apparent that that money would have been better spent on providing automatic movement-sensor operated doors for the porters and indeed everyone else. Even better the money spent on the TVs could have been saved by signing up to a better maintenance contract for the Lifts at the BRI, one lift was permanently out of order for the 14 days I was there, and another (the one next to Wards 27/28, would not go to the third floor because the floor 3 button was jammed/broken. Instead the lift had to be called to floor 3 from floor 3, by someone who took the stairs on each occasion. Thank you Porters, you really are the unsung heroes of the BRI. Especially the one who wheeled my stretcher slow enough for my elderly mother and my kids to keep up with us, and managed to engage my 9 year old boy in conversation and get his mind off the seriousness of my situation; thank you.