"Dermatology Out-patient Department visit"

If there was a Trip Advisor for hospitals then Chesterfield Royal would get a great review from me. I had a first appointment this morning in Dermatology OPD with the Dermatology Registrar. The booking in process at Main Reception was quick, I was greeted and treated politely and there was no waiting. I was directed to OPD area 3 and when I looked a little puzzled that there was no sub-waiting reception, a member of the team quickly spotted this and showed me where to sit. I had arrived about ten minutes early for my appointment, thinking that parking may have caused a delay but found this was not the case and once seated I hardly had time to turn my phone to silent before my name was called and I was straight through to the doctor who was absolutely lovely, very professional and explained everything to me, a real credit to the hospital in their manner and patient centred approach. I didn't feel at all rushed and was able to ask questions throughout the consultation. Once my appointment was completed I needed to have my prescription made up and once again found that the processes in pharmacy were as slick and smooth as in OPD. Had I got time to go and get my next OPD appointment made while I was waiting for my prescription to be made up, yes was the courteous reply it should be ready in 10-15 minutes. So off I trotted in the direction of main reception, or so I thought but must have taken a right instead of a left and as I stood wondering where I had gone wrong, before I could even ask the question another member of staff asked if I needed help and swiftly pointed me in the direction I needed to go. The process for making another appointment was again painless, with the same person as I had first seen when booking in, and even my specific early or late in the day appointment needs were happily taken into consideration. Back in pharmacy I barely had time to review the front page of the newspaper when my name was called and my prescription was ready. Paying my parking ticket i was pleasantly surprised to see I had only been at the hospital for about 35 minutes so my parking fee was also in the lowest bracket. Altogether a really efficient and good experience. Well done Chesterfield Royal, as a healthcare professional myself I was very very impressed and if it comes to choice I would chose the services here over those of other Derbyshire / Nottinghamshire acute hospitals I have had experience of. Appreciating that I was only on the receiving end of one OPD visit - but the impression of overall efficiency will be a lasting one.