"Consistently excellent and caring service"

I am prompted to write this by reading the last review by someone who, sadly, had a very poor experience at the hospital.

During the last several months of the Covid crisis both my mother and father have been admitted as emergencies - a serious fracture and a stroke respectively. So we have been through a wide range of hospital services and wards.

We have been consistently impressed by the service we have received. Medically the care given has been excellent, prompt and thoughtfully planned with the individual circumstances of the patient in mind. In both cases my parents have made great recoveries despite being 89 and having many frailties.

The human care and compassion has been good. At its best we have been stunned by the extra mile some staff have gone to support us. There have been a few instances when staff have been less caring, maybe leaving them too long when they need to go to the toilet or being abrupt. However, we are all human and I cannot imagine how hard it is for staff at the moment.

If I had one suggestion it would be that more needs to be done to keep family informed since visiting is impossible. We have struggled to get through to wards, on one occasion- the day of my mother's operation - it took 19 phone calls before we got to speak to someone who knew her condition. Having said that, once we get through to senior nursing staff they take their time providing thorough and clear information.

You have our huge thanks and appreciation for maintaining your care for general patients despite the pressure on you this year.