"I could not fault the nursing ..."

What I liked

I could not fault the nursing and supporting staff on Ward D. They were friendly, attentive and very professional in my care. I have nothing but praise for what they do, how they go about it and the difficult conditions they have to operate within.

What could be improved

My asigned consultant was, I subsequently discovered, from Rotherham hospital and only covering temporarily. He saw me once and then didn't discuss my injury with me, but talk about me to a collegue. I was told I needed to see a spine consult who I had seen 3 years earlier. Frustratingley, I was discharged after 2 weeks not having seen the consultant, but my GP was told to refer me to him. My GP told me this was purely a way so that my GP covered the budget for the referral rather than the hospital ??, and that he couldn't refer me to the consultant specified as the Trust operate "choices" so I had to go on the NHS website and choose another hospital, ironically Rotherham - but not the same consultant thank goodness, but not Pinderfields as the consultant they wanted me to see was leaving and the waiting list was too long to be included on Choices. But he would have seen me had I been referred whilst in hospital. Ironically, he saw patients in the same ward as me on the day I was discahrged, but wasn't able to see me as I hadn't been referred to him whilst in hospital.

Anything else?

There is an urgent need for a discharge process to be devised and implemented at Pinderfields between the hospital and GP in respect to medication. I was discharged with a need to take 21 painkiller tablets a day involving about 7 different medications, some of which I found to my distress later, had serious withdrawal symptoms. It should be standard practice that a medication reduction plan be issued to patients and their GP on discharge, to enable them to reduce the medication in a safe and less stressful manner. This also needs to include tablets in a dosage that enables gradual reduction.

Overall, it is the nursing staff at Pinderfields that make this hospital tick, and I hope the new hospital provides the resources, equipment and new processes to match their (nursing staff) dedication and care.