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The people of North Tyneside deserve a...

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"The people of North Tyneside deserve a..."

About: North Tyneside General Hospital

What I liked

I attended for an ECG and was seen within 20 minutes of my arrival.

What could be improved

Why does this hospital find it so hard to communicate with those who use it?

I attended the X-ray Department and I know the electronic sign used to be set to say there would be 60 minutes waiting time regardles of what the actual waiting time was but I noticed that the sign was not even on when I attended today.

In the time I was there no one was taken through from the waiting area but more and more people arrived. Needless to say there was the ever present army of staff and clinicians wandering around without any apparent urgency and not one of them even acknowledged those kept waiting let alone dare to explain how long the wait would be. In the end, in the absence of any information, I called it a day and left.

These are basic things which don't take much to correct but those responsible for managing this hospital appear incapable of addressing something so obvious which is so simple to resolve and would help patients so much.

No one likes to have to visit a hospital and stress levels are increased as a result. So please do the decent thing and talk to people - keep them informed.Waiting timesCommunicationSignsWaiting AreasX-rayX-rayCliniciansStress

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Responses

Response from North Tyneside General Hospital 13 years ago
North Tyneside General Hospital

Submitted on 25/01/2011 at 09:08
Published on nhs.uk on 26/01/2011 at 04:05

Thank you for your observations from your visit to the X-ray department, we would like to apologise that you found your visit an unsatisfactory experience.

You mention that the electronic sign was not on, this is because it is in need of repair and we are waiting for the manufacturer to visit to assess and repair the equipment, the staff on duty however should have given verbal updates on current waiting times.

We are going to arrange for a white board to be erected so we can give more information to the patients and carers in the waiting areas regarding waiting times, room breakdowns, staff on duty etc but would value your comments on anything else you think we need to include that would provide necessary information for waiting patients.

Unfortunately we do not have your details so we are unable to investigate why there was a delay during your visit, if you provide these we will certainly investigate the circumstances.

You also mention staff and clinicians without urgency and not acknowledging those waiting or relaying any information, x-ray is a busy department used by clinicians from many areas, not everyone that you see in the x-ray department actually works in x-ray and would have no knowledge of waiting times or have any information to pass on.

Once again we apologise for the delay and the lack of information regarding waiting times.

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