"Efficient, caring, thorough - great advert for..."

I attended the Accident & Emergency department last night with symptoms of fever and chest pains - I was booked in quickly - seen by a triage nurse and then had a urine sample, blood test, ECG and chest x-ray. The duty consultant was top class - checked me out and got the various tess underway. The same doctor saw me with the test results - all checked and tested within 2 hours - explained the detail of all the results and gave me a diagnosis and some medication. The whole thing was carried out in 2.5 hours. All the staff from the receptionist through to the nurses and the doctor were caring, interested and professional - a first class service, I would like to pass on these comments to the team who dealt with me.

My only complaint has nothing to do with the service I received at the hospital which was exemplary - this needs to be passed on to the overarching NHS leadership - at 7-30 on a Wednesday night I was unable to see any medical professional in the Hartlepool area - the minor injuries unit is closed and there is no out of hours GP cover - I then had to drive 20 miles to the A&E. This is an absolutely useless system - the 111 is beyond useless - all they do is take 30 minutes taking all your details and then tell you to go to your nearest hospital!!