"Warm and caring attitude, poor systems..."

What I liked

The personal tone of the staff was always caring. However, the nursing staff should check that patients are warm enough when they throw open the windows. I never saw anyone, including visitors using the hand cleanser, the one for the ward was obscured by equipment.

What could be improved

The 'systems' management is poor - patients wait all day for a single test then another day to get the results if the doctors have done their rounds - this is very dis-spiriting for the patients. There is a lack of communication between departments. In-patients are left on trolleys for a couple of hours waiting for a test when the ward is only a few minutes away. There is a lack of information as to when and what tests are being carried out. Too often patients are told they will be going home, only to find out they will not and another test on another day will be carried out. All this laborious haning around is costing the NHS money - nursing, administration, overheads, food etc.

In the private sector all the necessary tests would be carried out swiftly and analyses done soon after. Patients are kept informed of what test is being carried out, when the results will be given and when they will see the doctor. The NHS, and Eastbourne DGH could learn from this.