"Inconsistent. Either very good or very bad."

What I liked

A few weeks ago i was in ward 40 day unit for a surgical termination. On the particularly day the staff were excellent. Although there was a long wait to see the anaesthetist (which was understandable, as the ward was very busy) the anaesthetist was great, very efficient, and friendly. The nurses that saw to me were also efficien, professionalt, very friendly and empathetic. In truth, it was the most difficult decision i had had to make in my life, and if it wasn't for the excellent nurse that accompanied me down to theatre and encouraged me to open up, i don't think i would have been able to go through with it. However I wish that some of my other experiences in the hospital had been as outstanding. Earlier in the year, i had a miscarraige. I found out at my 12 week scan that the baby was gone. And no one seemed to know what was going on and people were rushing in and out of the room asking for different opinions, and i was even laughed at by a nurse as i cried. One member of staff told me there was nothing there, another told me that they didn't know what had happened, another told me that there still may be a chance and it was best to wait, and yet another tried to push pills on me for me to go home and evacuate my womb there. I was sent to another room to wait on a doctor, and told i could wait up to half an hour. I was left over an hour, and when i went to check where the doctor was with a nurse, i was told that she didn't even realise that i was there. I refused any more service that day, and returned in a week for an internal scan, and was booked in for an operation several days after that. When i went in that day i was left alone for most of the time, although the ward was mainly empty, and when seen to i was seen to by a pregnant nurse, which was very distressing given i was in there due to a miscarraige.

What could be improved

The staff should learn to be more empathetic, like the last time i was there, and have a care. It would help if messages were passed along more efficiently. I called ward 40 today, complaining of a blood clot bigger than a 50p, which i was told to look out for and it could be dangerous, when i got through to the ward i the response i recieved was 'mmhmm, well, umm, it doesn't sound bad. if you're that worried, go and see your GP. thanks'