"Sunday morning faultless. Friday night thoughtless..."

What I liked

I have two entirely constrasting reviews of A+E within the month. My first visit was on a Sunday morning for a separated shoulder. Arriving at 9.30 am I was triaged, xrayed, put in a sling and discharged within half an hour!! I have been singing their praises far and wide ever since.

However, this weekend, at about midnight on Friday evening, my thumb was slammed in a patio door cutting 3/4 of the way through the tip, right through the nail (and yes, it did hurt). I waited over 2 hours in A+E before someone even looked at it to assess the damage and then only because I spoke to a nurse who was chatting to the receptionist. I was in a lot of pain and worried that I was going to lose half of my thumb but I was only given pain kilers when my daughter flagged down another nurse. I do understand that there were more serious cases elsewhere in the hospital but I waited 5 hours in an empty A+E before finally having it xrayed, dressed, told it was 'quite bad' and going home with a referral to a hand surgeon at East Grinstead.

My advice to anyone thinking of using Maidstone - make sure your accidents happen at a time convenient to the hospital.

What could be improved

Communication. A long wait is more bearable if someone talks to you from time to time to reassure you that you haven't been forgotten, You just want to get out of there but no-one will give you any information and if you dare to ask questions you are ushered back to your seat while security looms menacingly in the background.