"The nurses were friendly and helpful. ..."

What I liked

The nurses were friendly and helpful. The operation went well.

What could be improved

Cleanliness - the place was filthy. I attending with my little girl, who was in for an operation. I was ill with a bad cold and was suffering from an attack of gout, but someone more senior than a nurse wouldn't let me lie on an unoccupied bed, and was generally unhelpful and unpleasant. I asked why, and at first they said it was for reasons of hygiene (bit of a joke as the floor under the bed was littered with a thick layer of dust, sweet papers, little plastic caps off syringes or something, etc). When I assured them that lying on the bed was unlikely to be more of a threat than sitting on it (which was OK, apparently), they then changed the reason, saying that “people don’t expect to see adults lying on children’s beds”. I wouldn’t even done it had I not been ill!

Anything else?

My little girl and I were brought in early, then had to wait for several hours before she went into theatre. This was very tedious for both of us. One of the nurses gave her a game console, but it didn't work, so she was very bored. I hadn't expected to be kept waiting all day, so had brought nothing to read. I had nothing to eat, so put money in a sandwich machine – got nothing out, no refund, and nobody wanted to know.

The car park cost me SEVEN POUNDS FIFTY to park in, but was much too small for the demand – so when I had to go out to get something to eat, of course when I came back my space had been taken and I had to park miles away, despite having PAID.

All in all, going to the hospital was a most awful experience. Never again.