"Knee replacement surgery"

I was recently at Cannock hospital for surgery. Op went well, but was kept waiting for an hour and a half for theatre, in a very cold room, very isolating, and not best preparation.

Care on ward excellent, but understaffing is very evident and paperwork is completely out of hand and there is nowhere near enough communication between different departments, in my experience. I find it ridiculous that patients have to repeat basic information so many times daily.

In my view, twelve-hour shifts are not acceptable for staff welfare or morale, I think eight-hour shifts should be re-introduced ASAP.

Targets for sending patients home following surgery are also totally unacceptable, in my view. This system should be scrapped and allow attention to be given to individuals' recovery time as we are all different and not statistics! I was certainly not ready to leave after 3 days and no allowance was made for the fact that I live on my own and had arranged a care package to start after five, information which the hospital had been given in advance.

I had requested hospital transport to take me home, which could not be provided on the day requested due to crew shortages, so I had no option but to spend an extra night in hospital through no fault of my own, which was very upsetting and frustrating. Frankly, I found this service shambolic, too few vehicles and personnel, same old story. When they did arrive the following afternoon, they were superb, as were the ward staff as it was just as difficult for them.

It is very evident to me from a stay in hospital where many of the NHS's problems are - simply overkill on admin, too many chiefs and far too few shop floor workers. Is it fixable? Perhaps, with some courageous decisions to slim down management etc, I believe. Could we not look at the way things are run in countries such as Australia?

My admiration for all the staff who cared for me could not be higher, having to work within the restraints of the system.

One more comment regarding Cannock Hospital - a decision was taken to close the pharmacy there at weekends, which means all medication has to be delivered from New Cross, Wolverhampton, thus delaying discharge times. This cannot provide the most efficient service, again short staffed.

Finally, I was not particularly impressed with my pre-op interview as it took two and half hours, involved far too many different staff, and some of the important info that I gave was not passed on to the ward. Again, too much pressure on staff having to deal with so many people each day, I feel.