"My observations"

I have need to visit this hospital quite a lot over the past twelve months to take my wheelchair user husband to appointments or to assist elderly relatives. The staff themselves are very helpful but here are my observations:

Reception/waiting areas

Many people in this area use wheelchairs, walking aids, are elderly and there does not seem to ever be enough capacity to accommodate everyone. I would think that having enough seating and chairs would be a basic necessity for such a busy area. There are times when relatives/carers or visitors may need a break and this is also the area they go to for a coffee. A review of the area is in my opinion required to enable more chairs for people.

Car Parking/accessibility

Previously when taking my husband to his appointment I have been allowed to use the back entrance to the hospital which allows me to park my car for a few minutes, help my husband into his wheelchair and subsequently place him in the hospital reception waiting area while I then go and take my car to the carpark – this is a distance away and not really suitable for wheel chair users. At his last appointment I was assured that I would be able to this and so arrived at 10 past eight to find that the barrier was down to this entrance, I used the buzzer for assistance, but no one answered, a staff member happened to be passing and they tried to use their staff pass but this would not work either. I had to help my husband out of the car, assist him into his wheelchair and basically leave him there while I parked the car. Our stress levels were through the roof, I do not like leaving him alone, he doesn’t like being left alone, we worry about being late for appointments and we feel exasperated. As an added note the reception area is quite narrow for wheelchair users.

I realize that there is work going on within the hospital to improve certain areas and that there are notices apologizing for the inconvenience but they are not actually helpful.

On another occasion I was wondering how I was going to manage to get my husband and his wheelchair from the hospital to the car park, I again did not want to leave him alone at the hospital entrance while I went to fetch the car but I would struggle to push him in the chair all the way to the car park. I explained this to a staff member who was kind enough to offer to wait in the reception area with him while I fetched the car to the pick-up point at the entrance. I was grateful for this offer of help. However, as I pulled up into this designated area my husband was not there and I had to wait several minutes, cars behind me could not pass at this point and the driver behind actually came over and banged on my car window to ask  how long I would be. As it happens my husband had needed the toilet which delayed his departure for a couple of minutes. This again added to the stress of a very long day almost twelve hours in total.

As said, I have no fault with the hospital staff and am grateful for the help and treatment my husband and relative receive but I think the car park, pick-up and drop-off for wheelchair user and the overall seating areas are definitely areas which need consideration and improvement.