"Day Surgery - April 2016"

My 11 year old autisitc son had day surgery, and we were all less than impressed.

Being a paediatric nurse myself I know the struggles of working in a busy hospital, and I'm also aware of what proper care consists of.

Firstly, we were not alerted when my son's operation had finished. We were left waiting 2 hours (even though the ward was not at all busy) before we found out he was in recovery (by himself)

He was then brought up to Galaxy Ward by himself, without anyone informing us of this, meaning he was once again waiting on a strange ward, crying and disorientated.

No memebers of staff introduced themselves, and we were not smiled at once (a smile takes no time whatsoever, even a smile whilst walking past is appreciated!)

Infection control was shocking... changing dirty beds with no protective clothing (gloves/apron) and not wiping down the bed etc.

Communication was lacking, we had to chase the nurses to find out anything. My son was given no menus, so ended up in pain because of hunger after being nil by mouth pre op.

Even my son himself said he wishes he'd never gone for the op, and asked me never to take him back to the hospital.

The care given was minimal, as was the compassion and friendliness.

All in all, a horrible experience, which I was truly disappointed by.