"Shocked and disappointed!"

What I liked

The staff were very caring and worked very well as a team. Very knowledgeable, very personable.

What could be improved

The appearance of the hospital overall is very negative. I was there for a transplant assessment and was supposed to be there as an inpatient for 3 days. On seeing the ward and where I would be expected to remain for the tests throughout the 3 days, I refused to go ahead with the assessment, although I did have part of the assessment carried out (bloods taken, ECG, spirometry testing).

The ward itself was dark and the atmosphere very depressing. The entrance to the building where Mallard Ward is situated was filthy!!! The automatic doors were so dirty that it looked as though we were looking through a fog. The mat at the entrance had not been hoovered in a long time and small stones/pieces of grit filled the mat and surrounding flooring area. The lift up to the ward did not have clear instructions on how to get to the floors as the buttons were so worn that the numbers/letters could not be seen. There was a sign on the wall, some of the letters were missing and filled in with a permanent marker.

When a patient is going there to be assessed for heart transplant, seeing shoddy inconsistencies at 'grass roots' level does not instil confidence in the more serious aspects of patient care pre and post transplant. There was a smell of stale urine on the ward and rather than feel I was in safe hands, I actually felt immense fear and a total lack of confidence, leading me to abandon my assessment.