"Excellent staff"

I had to attend Arthur South DPU for day surgery and was literally terrified of possible outcomes as well as the procedure itself.

Staff on the day unit, especially one SN, were superb. They could see stress and anxiety genuinely through the roof and did everything humanly possible to help ease fears etc.

Procedure and risks clearly detailed with plenty of opportunity for questions.

Issues in recovery meant I had to stay in overnight, as did others.

Again it must be said the staff in recovery were amazing. Friendly, caring and humorous and clearly dedicated to the role and the patients they were caring for.

What we weren't expecting was the non DPU ward we were kept in on to be closed resulting in all of us being woken up for moves between 23:30hrs and 01:30hrs - pain post op is bad enough to get sleep but to be woken up & disturbed constantly for two hours to facilitate ward closure added to pain & stress levels.

Night staff pleasant enough but should be aware how their voices carry down a quiet night time ward.

Due to lack of respect for privacy when discussing the ward closure and which patient should go where their loud voices ensured we each found out what procedure we were in for, what medication we were on etc and of course we found out before being told officially what ward we were heading to.

I appreciate there may not have been nursing office, instead NNUH seem to favour nurses desk / station but as shown by my experience lack of an office leads to total loss of patient confidentiality. My procedure was necessary and not embarrassing but nonetheless I didn't want it discussed loudly for all to hear.

Being moved ward at stupid o'clock also meant I was not given discharge papers or any paperwork relating to post op care / procedures. I was informed by discharging ward the paperwork would be sent out by post by the Arthur South Unit.

I don't suppose lack of discharge paperwork or information would usually be a problem but at 02:00jhrs following discharge there were issues, that ultimately led to readmission, and I had nothing to refer to for guidance nor who to contact etc. Out of hours DR asked for discharge papers as did staff when readmitted. Each must have thought I lost them whereas the reality was they weren't given on discharge and 6 days later have still not arrived.

Overall impression was that staff were superb and very caring.