"Fortnights stay in Pinderfields with a badly..."

Anything else?

After receiving a badly broken leg following a road traffic accident I arrived at casualty via an ambulance. From casualty I was transferred to Ward 32 where I under went two operations. I stayed on Ward 32 in a single room for about 12 nights.

I would like to thank all the staff (cleaners, housekeepers, nurses, physios, doctors & surgeons) in both casualty and on Ward 32 for putting me back together again. The staff on Ward 32 were especially hard working and attentive in what appeared to me to be a very busy Ward.

My only criticism for the whole period is of the final discharge procedures which appeared not to follow any kind of plan. I felt that once I had been told I could go home that no one was interested in carrying out the paperwork. It took nearly 3 hours to get a discharge letter and a sick note (which turned out to be useless as the dates were all wrong and I had to return at a later date to get another one).

When we finally got moving my wife was told to go to the hospital entrance to pick up a wheel chair from the volunteers. At the same time she brought our car to the pick up point. When she returned for the wheel chair she noticed a traffic warden writing her a ticket for parking at the pick up point. So she had to run back outside and remonstrate with the warden that she was trying unsuccessfully to get her husband from the ward to the car and that she could really do without all this.

By the time my wife returned to the ward with the volunteer and wheel chair the volunteer informed us that he finished at 1600hrs and the wheel chair was returned to the entrance leaving us again stranded on the ward.

We asked a nurse on the ward if she could ring for a porter to assist us with a wheel chair. I heard the nurse contact the porters twice by telephone who when he arrived denied being contacted at all. When we finally arrived back at the car the traffic warden again was waiting.

I would recommend that your final discharge procedures need looking at to help alleviate all this unnecessary stress. Maybe a discharge checklist so the discharge can't take place until everything is in order.