"The nursing staff and doctors are tremendous and I..."

What I liked

I have just returned from a 2 night stay where my 8 month old daughter underwent a procedure in relation to her congenital heart condition.

As you can imagine having a baby with a heart condition is very frightening and although we have attended hospital on several occasions this is the first time that she has undergone an operation under general anaesthetic.

From the moment we arrived the nursing staff were fantastic. We were re-assured every step of the way and everything was explained to us clearly. I felt completely involved in the decision making process and felt that the staff genuinly cared for my daughter.

The registrar, the anaesthetist and consultant were also wonderful taking time out to re-assure us and explain the procedure in detail.

Unfortunately there was a complication - again I was fully informed prior to surgery that this was a possibility - and as a result my daughter was taken to PICU. Again the staff were absolutely tremendous. As a result of the complication we had to stay in hospital for a further night for observations which I completely understood.

The nursing staff on nights were brilliant. They even manged to take my daughters obs without even waking her.

What could be improved

Early the following morning we were seen by the registrar who told us that we could go home once we had received our prescription, however some 6 hours later we still had not received our medicine.

After 2 extremely stressful days and very little sleep I am sure you can appreciate my desire to return home.

I asked the nursing staff on several occasions how long it would take only to be told that the pharmacy are slow and they frequently have problems with prescriptions.

The medicine I was prescribed was propranolol and appears to be an 'off the shelf ' item that has already been prepared.

I am sure you can imagine my frustration at having to wait so long for something that should practically take only a few minutes when everything else in the hospital is so efficient

I am sure I was not the only patient waiting taking up a valuble hospital and badgering the hard working nursing staff

It would be good if the pharmacy could provide a target time so that if there is a delay patients could perhaps leave the ward instead of having to sit and wait for an unspecified period.

I feel that the hospital could improve in this area perhaps issuing prescriptions so that patients can obtain their own medicine upon arriving home.

Anything else?

My daughter is due to return in a fews weeks for major heart surgery I can honestly say I feel completely assured that she is in safe hands and will be well cared for.

I just hope we dont need any medicine upon discharge !