"A hospital is only as good as its staff, so City..."

What I liked

I have both good and bad experiences of City Hospital. My husband and I both had cause to attend A&E in December last year and on both occasions staff behaviour ranged from very professional to very unprofessional. Brilliant attitudes from doctors and nurses at times gave way to curt, stressed attitudes from clearly overworked and disheartened staff. One nurse started arguing with another member of staff about my husband's transfer to xray, over the top of my husband's trolley as he lay bleeding. Another nurse had a loud conversation about me and my condition (my full name mentioned clearly) in hearing range of a number of patients and their family members but failed to speak to me personally about my situation. Not great.

Having said that the hospital is exceptional in some ways. The isolation unit is a fantastic example of professionalism and care, giving us comfort and confidence in the face of a very traumatic situation. I have been under the care of the fracture clinic/orthopaedic team for a long time and they are well administrated, friendly, caring and efficient, as are the Xray department. The physio team is very good and the cafe staff are always cheerful.

What could be improved

Perhaps a higher staff ratio in the A&E, monitoring and feedback of attitudes, particularly in respect of privacy. I noticed previous comments about a rude triage nurse. We experienced the same when attending with a very poorly child.