"Excellent care"

My teenage son sustained a broken leg recently. He was seen promptly within the children’s A&E, injuries assessed and swiftly taken for X-rays which unfortunately showed a fracture.

The doctors and nurses were lovely, my son particularly liked a doctor called Nigel from the ortho team who reviewed him. He was very informative and answered all the questions my son had.

We were swiftly transferred then to ward 3C, where my son waited for surgery. Staff were lovely, however there was a small issue in sourcing a suitable size bed for him as apparently there were none of the larger beds available. At 5 foot 10 there’s no way he could have managed in a smaller bed, however the lovely porter advocated for him and sourced a larger bed for him - thank you.

The doctors and anaesthetist who reviewed him again were very informative and friendly and everyone took great care of him throughout surgery and recovery. The SCN on the ward was very kind and approachable, along with her team of nurses where no question was too silly. The HCA was very good with my son and took the time with him to help support him and make him feel comfortable. Thank you also to the physiotherapist and ortho liaison team who helped him.

The only comment I do have to make is in regards to the parking situation at the hospital. One of our main concerns was how our son was going to access the car. As his leg has to be completely straight, the car door obviously needs to be fully open to allow him to get in. This wasn’t possible when parked in narrow spaces, and unfortunately the drop off/pick up zones were full of abandoned vehicles so we couldn’t even transfer him in to the car there. Thankfully, we encountered a lovely lady from one of the clinics who helped us. She also gave my son blankets as could tell he was cold. She was really helpful and didn’t need to take the time out of her day to help us - thank you!

I appreciate however that this comment has no reflection on any of the care received and is no reflection on the ward itself, but I think the hospital as a whole needs to understand that patients undergoing surgery and requiring extra room and time to get in the car need a designated area where this can be done safely post discharge.

Again, many thanks to everyone involved in my son's care.