"From being admitted to A&E ..."

What I liked

From being admitted to A&E on Monday 31 May with a severe laceration to her lower leg, my 80 year old mother Mary was treated with consideration, dignity and great care. Special thanks go to the nursing and medical team on the surgical assessment unit. Please pass on our special thanks to both Sisters and the two doctors who ensured Mom received the help and care she needed whilst the wound was being treated. We, her family, were also kept informed on what was happening throughout our stay on the unit. The attention on the trauma orthopaedic ward was also excellent with an excellent level of care from all the nursing staff. Again, when we requested, nursing staff were able to answer all our questions and minimised our stress in what was quite a traumatic incident for all. What was very pleasing was the "joined up" approach we saw which meant good coordination between all the specialist staff and a good level of communication with us. At no time did we feel that we were trying to deal with everything ourselves

What could be improved

I did find an empty gel holder near the X Ray department, but this was immediately changed when I informed a member of staff - but this is really splitting hairs! Probably the discharge procedure on Wednesday was too long - it is still a mystery why you have to wait so long to get medication from the pharmacy when the patient has been discharged - but here again the ward staff did everything they could to ease the delay.

Anything else?

Despite the severity of her fall and injury, when she was told by the ambulance team that she was being taken to Stafford hospital, my mother was more concerned about that than the wound itself. However as she sat back in her own chair at home on Wednesday she said "I could not have received better treatment or care, the staff were excellent". We would again like to thank all the people who treated Mary during her stay and for giving us back our confidence in the level of care at our local hospital.