"First Visit to James Cook Hospital"

What I liked

My son was admitted to Ward 22 via A& E. We arrived at A& E expecting a long wait, my son was seen by the triage nurse, the on call oral surgeon, the x ray department and onto Ward 22 all within an hour.

The ward was very clean, all staff from the nursing staff to the consultant were very pleasant and professional, explaining all tests and procedures to myself and my son (hes 11). The tea lady was very chatty and helped cheer my son up. There were things to keep him occupied, various board games, a playstation and an x box.. If I went with him he was allowed to leave the ward.

What could be improved

Children should be put in a bay with children of a smililar age. My son was in a bay with a 2 year old, whose parents had no control of them, running round and bouncing on empty beds 24 hours a day, while the parents and family sat and watched and laughed. Luckily my son was only in for 1 day or I would have asked for him to be moved.

Anything else?

Was surprised at the car park prices. After a 50 mile round trip I was expecting the car park to cost 'an arm and a leg'. Surprisingly, although not cheap, it was half the price of our local hospital, which is under a different health authority.