"Clear evidence of care and compassion"

My Dad was admitted to the hospital in February via A&E. He sadly passed away 4 days later. He'd had an awful experience at another hospital recently and we really didn't want to even call an ambulance for fear he'd be readmitted. Darent Valley was a completely different experience. Without exception, every member of staff lived the values publicised by the hospital, particularly care and compassion - to Dad and to his relatives. The doctors took time to explain exactly what was wrong, what treatment was being given and what the likely outcomes were and to answer my questions.

Once the decision had been made to withdraw treatment because he wasn't responding, a private room was quickly found and the nursing staff couldn't have done enough for us. Sadly we weren't with him when he passed away. But I couldn't have hand-picked a better nurse to be with him - she was amazing.

Loosing my Dad has been so hard - but this hospital made things so much easier and provided me with so much comfort that he was given the best possible care by individuals who really did want to do their very best.