"Excellent care"

Following my recent stay on Ward T3, I have nothing but praise for the staff.

My consultant was very kind, even while being also very forthright when it was needed.

All the staff were very kind and helpful, especially when I wasn't allowed to walk for several days following my operation.

Despite the current fashion for complaining about hospital food, I have to say that I enjoyed my meals very much. I must especially commend the soups, freshly made daily and every one delicious. I gained the nickname of 'Two Soups' because I kept asking for refills!

The ward was kept very clean by a hard working cleaner who was like a little dynamo. Altogether, although I was naturally glad to be going home, there were quite a few people who I was sorry to say goodbye to because they were so nice.

Following discharge from the ward, I attended a multi-disciplinary clinic at the Diabetes centre, and finally the vascular clinic at the Lucy Pugh outpatients, both of which were also excellent.

In general, compared to previous visits in fairly recent years, the whole hospital now seems brighter, more colourful, cleaner and more people friendly. A & E, where I initially attended, has shown great improvement from my last visit with my Mum about ten years ago. Communication has also improved markedly, with most people introducing themselves and talking to me properly.

My one niggle is that there were not enough ward staff on during the night, and especially in the early morning. If you wake people at 6 AM to check blood pressure and blood sugar for the diabetics, it is then inevitable that most of them will want to go to the toilet or need a commode, and there were a lot of times when the staff struggled to cope. If there was a medical emergency during the night it meant that no-one else got any attention - not nice when you're desperate for the toilet. I don't blame the staff themselves, but I do feel that staffing levels could be improved.

Similarly with the staffing levels for ultrasound scans and angioplasties. The delays waiting for both things put back my discharge from the ward by several days, so I was occupying a bed for longer than necessary.