"Great Western Hospital - Private Care"

I recently visited the Great Western Hospital in Swindon, both the Neurology and Rheumatology departments due to a big increase in pain and abnormal sensations leading to numbness.

The private section has its own little car park, for which you can get a ticket from reception just after you arrive.

The reception was lovely, with a good selection of free papers, and a decent coffee machine as these things go.

The staff were very friendly, and made you feel very at ease. I found both consultants to be extremely polite and gentle, and the Neurology department in particular were very quick to diagnose an extremely rare condition that, on further reading, can take many years to diagnose.

I also had a go on the new MRI scanner at the Ridgeway Hospital in wroughton, again very relaxed atmosphere, and a nice reception with friendly staff.

Car park gets a bit soggy in the rain so take care where you park! The MRI scanner is "open" this means you have a huge cut off cylinder hanging from the ceiling, and you are slid under it with a clearance of a matter of inches. I found this very distracting, but the MRI noise soon sent me to sleep. I could have requested any music during the scan, but was happy with the mid eighties rock already playing and left the technician to his preference.

All in all a very good experience at what was otherwise very scary time!