"Children's ward"

Ive just spent a 2 days and 1 night stay on a children's ward G wing. I can't fault the nursing staff and doctors, they were all attentive and caring.

My main concern was the complete lack of facilities on the ward. Only one of the six beds on the ward had a night light, all the others were missing bulbs. Quite distressing for a child to be left in a strange environment in the dark with no means of being able to turn a light on from your bed. Unlike other hospitals we have visited in the south, Southampton hospital do not have TVs with each bed. For a child of the 21st century this is a completely alien concept. There was 1 tv on the ward, hogged the entire time by one child who was curtained off so no other child could watch the one tv at the same time.

On leaving the hospital I asked staff about concession charges for overnight parking which is offered at other hospitals, I was told this was not available at the weekend. I had to pay £20.20 for the pleasure. If I had known before hand I would have arranged for a friend to drop us at the hospital. So please be warned ,make sure you have plenty of things to entertain your child whilst they're waiting anxiously on the ward having been starved for an operation with nothing to distract them other than anything you have brought from home.