"I have been an outpatient and ..."

What I liked

I have been an outpatient and received surgery here, all within the last six months or so. My consultant was fantastic and his services and bedside manner are brilliant. The location is pretty good and the outpatient department is very clean and airy.

What could be improved

The reception staff are unfriendly, talk at patients and raise their hands in patients' faces when asked a simple question, like "How late is my consultant running?". They often fail to inform patients of delays, and I have heard on many occasions people phoning friends/relatives telling them that they're still at the hospital despite their appointment being an hour earlier. Personally, I do not find it such a problem if the consultant runs late, but I am vexed by the fact that reception staff do not tell patients when this is the case, yet when asked, they raise their hands and shout that they're trying to sort it out, they don't know or sometimes just shrug their shoulders.

The nurses cannot do dressings at all. I have a tumour on my finger which used to bleed about half a litre of blood a day and was very painful. Most times I'd leave the hospital with a dressing that looked like a toilet roll, and other times with a dressing so thin that if it was even touched, it would bleed profusely. By one nurse, I was told to "SIT" and she then commented, saying that I was not happy about anything after I said I didn't mind which type of dressing she used. Having just had a local anaesthetic in my hand, I could not feel/move my hand much, and I was again shouted at for "NOT KEEPING MY HAND IN THE SAME POSITION", which would have been an awkward position anyway.

Overall, apart from the consultants (even some of which give *evil* stares in the corridors) and the facilities, I wouldn't reccommend being treated here. Spire hospitals are much better and the Harpenden Hospital is definitely worth travelling to even though it's far.