"I was an in-patient in the Charles ..."

What I liked

I was an in-patient in the Charles Pannett Ward for two weeks for an anterior resection operation. The care I received was excellent. The vast majority of the nurses who treated me were caring and competent. Most of the doctors were also excellent. The other non-medical staff (i.e cleaners and catering) were also committed and did a very good job.

What could be improved

On occasions, particularly in the High Dependency Unit, the workload on the one or two nurses on duty was so great that they got little or no breaks during their 12-hour shift of duty. Generally, additional nurses should be recruited to ease the workload.

Also, the porters from the X-Ray department seem to be overworked, leading to delays in my being returned to my ward after X-Rays.

Some (but not all) junior doctors need to learn a little humility. On one occasion when I was in HDU, I woke up about 1 a.m and needed a sip of water. A doctor was writing up my notes a few metres away from the bed, and instead of taking 5 seconds to give me a sip of water, he made me wait some time until the sole nurse on duty could deal with this.

On another occasion, when I was being transported for an X-Ray on my bed, a junior doctor immediately in front of my bed opened the swing doors leading onto the corridor, exited and let the door slam in the face of the porter wheeling my bed. It would have taken him no more than 3 seconds to hold the door open to facilitate my being wheeled through the door.