"Specialists excellent but environment was grim"

Visited as an emergency with my elderly mother. The receptionist (who normally worked in the anaesthetics dept) was excellent. The triage sister was also excellent. The care from the doctor was also excellent. For this part of the "experience" I would rate the clinic very highly.

However, this is meant to be a leading centre. Having worked for the Chairman of one NHS Trust and Ops Director of another NHS Trust, I was appalled by the shabbiness and lack of cleanliness of the surroundings. The car park was full of litter. The floor of the clinic seemed to be dirty. Walls and skirting were tatty, dimly lit and totally depressing. It really did feel as though nobody cared about the building. It was by far the worst environment I have experienced in the NHS and I felt sorry for staff who were expected to work in such dingy surroundings.

Having been triaged, my mother was triaged for a second time by a staff member who openly chewed gum while dealing with us, carried out a meaningless very basic eye test and who did not even bother to try and establish why we were there.

Overall, the care was excellent but the estates department at your trust should be taking positive action to improve the environment, signage and cleanliness of the clinic. It would take very little to transform it from an environment which gave the impression of being very poorly cared for to somewhere that staff would be proud to work and which would also be more welcoming for patients.