"Upon arrival at A & E, staff ..."

What I liked

Upon arrival at A & E, staff were very helpful and courteous. I was sent straight through to see a doctor who also was of a high standard. A decision was made quickly that my elbow would need to be put back in and i was taken through and the procedure taken care of within a reasonably short period of time. All the staff were polite and did their best to make me as comfortable as possible. Following on from this i was also impressed by the staff in the plaster room and also my consultant. And particulalry by the Physio staff who i saw once a week for a few months, all were friendly, helpful and nice even whilst they pushed me through my pain barrier!

What could be improved

The room that i was put in in A & E had obviously been vacated literally before i was placed in it, there did not seem to have been time to remove the blood stained bandages that were in a pile in the corner. They weren't near me but were still in the room (however as i was rushed through in pain i wasnt that bothered!). Also since my accident i have had to have numerous physio appointments which did not completely help my arm, the physio department sent me back to talk to my consultant but i was shocked to discover that there is no passing of knowledge between the two departments and it was entirely based on what i said when i got there! Why do these departments that are literally a tiny distance from each other not communicate about patients that are being seen by both of them?

Anything else?

On one occasion upon arriving for a follow up appointment with the consultant i waited for several hours only to be told when called in that the consultant didnt work that day and the person that saw me could not refer me on for surgery as i was not their patient. I was slightly annoyed that i was booked an appointment on a day that they worked in another hospital! Plus i have also since been concerned about the length of time it takes for a referrel form to reach a specialist. I understand that there is a waiting list but the form itself took over three weeks once written (which in its self was about three weeks after my appointment) to get through the specialist's secretarys to join the list for an appointment.