"Surgical and pain management teams need improvement"

I had to go into Stoke Mandeville Hospital in mid August of 2022. Dr Joel in A&E was excellent, as he listened to me, and was understanding when my phone call with my GP surgery, interrupted the appointment with him. I rate him 5/5 stars.

The Dr I saw on the surgical assessment unit was a good doctor overall. She didn't want me to record the conversation on my phone, so that felt uncomfortable. But overall I liked her and thought she was a good doctor. I rate her 4/5 stars this time. But once her communication skills improve, I believe it's possible for her to be a 5 star doctor.

a senior member of the surgical assessment unit kept pushing me to get an x-ray, but I don't want to have an x-ray every 2-3 weeks, and I didn't feel that they considered my point of view. However I felt their technical skills at doing the examination was entirely adequate. Something they said during the consent form meeting made me worried, that the surgical team might refuse to treat me, so I spent the whole night scared that I would die, if they refuse to treat me. Overall I rate him as 2 stars this time, but I believe that he is capable of improving his listening skills, and I would would love to give him a higher score, the next times I need treatment.

The anaesthesiologist: Dr Larigan was excellent, he listened to me, considered what I said, and gave me options. His assistant during the  surgery was excellent too. I rate the anaesthesia team as 5/5 stars.

The surgeon who did my procedure was excellent. He kept his hands clean and his fingernails were in excellent condition. He was compassionate, he listened to me, and the surgery went well with no complaints. He spoke to me afterwards to let me know how the surgery went, so I felt his patient communication skills were brilliant. I have complete confidence in his skills and rate him as 5/5 stars.

The pain management team refused to speak to me on record, so they didn't speak to me, and I was left in pain for 2 days. Also there was no bed for me on the surgical assessment unit, so I had to sleep on 2 chairs pushed together. They didn't let me  sleep on an examination table, even though they let other patients on the S.A.U. sleep on examination tables.

Apart from that I thought the nurses on the surgical assessment

unit, and the catering staff were excellent and very helpful. 5/5 stars.

Overall my rating of my stay at Stoke Mandeville Hospital was 2 out of 5 stars. There are excellent, highly skilled, compassionate people working at SMH, but I was let down by inadequate pain relief procedures, and over-crowding due to lack of hospital resources.

If the surgical and pain management teams make improvements, then I believe it could be possible for me to  rate SMH 4 or 5 stars when I need treatments in the future.