"Great hospital, poor customer service"

What I liked

The nurses were all very friendly and highly skilled. I wasn't looking forward to my visit for surgery but I had nothing to be worried about at all. I was there for six hours and was made to feel comfortable. I had my lunch there and it was very nice.

Sister was a bit abrupt, but I expect she has a lot to deal with.

The people that deal with booking appointments can be very rude and disinterested. I received a follow up appointment for a Wednesday, which I can't attend, and called to rearrange. I was told, in a very condescending way, that the Consultant only does a clinic on Wednesday's so I'd have to work around him. After a debate around whether I should even be attending New Cross, or whether I was supposed to attend Stafford, I eventually said to cancel it and forget it as I'd sort it out myself.

I called back to speak with someone else, hoping for a more appropriate attitude. I was told that my appointment had been cancelled, which is what I'd asked for, but that I'd also been discharged. I wasn't aware that the customer service staff were qualified to discharge patients! The second person I spoke with was as unfamiliar with customer service as the first.

What had been a very good experience with New Cross is turning into a bad one, and the sad thing is that it has absolutely nothing to do with levels of care, hygiene or facilities, which are the usual measures of hospital treatment.