"Excellent service provided by..."

What I liked

I have just returned from having a Blood Test, and was amazed that the Nurses taking the blood, also had to man Reception. This slowed down the whole process, and added to their workload, and was not helpful to Patients arriving at the unmanned counter, as people were milling around not knowing what to do. When I arrived the number on the wall showed 5, and as my number was 14 I waited more than 3/4 of and hour. The Nurses had to take the Blood, send it via the Pipe system and then deal with whoever was at the Counter.

What could be improved

It would be interesting if this Counter was staffed during the busy periods (during the Consultants Surgeries, and the Lunch hours), by temporary staff or even volunteers (as it was purely admin and did not need any Nursing skills). Then the Nurses could do their job and serve the Patients.

Anything else?

There was a lady sitting at one end of the Counter (Patients Transport), and for the whole time I was in the Department she did not take a phone call or have any Patients to deal with. She seemed to come to life only to tell Patients to queue at the Blood Reception (a few feet away from her seat).