"I arrived as A & E patient. ..."

What I liked

I arrived as A & E patient. A bit slow in getting to me for pain relief. When help came after well over an hour, my response to the treatment was swift, within minutes. I wish the morphine had been administered as soon as I'd been admitted. Sent to ward 11, which was clean, calm and efficient. Kind and friendly staff. My 3-day stay was as pleasant as could be expected under the circumstances, and I hope when I return for the surgery it will be as good. I feel confident about the consultant who saw me, and he gave me good information, which was not "dumbed down" but given to me as an intelligent adult. The ward was mopped with bleach twice a day, and all the surfaces cleaned, including skirting boards and high cupboard tops. Staff cleaned hands regularly, or wore fresh blue gloves when touching a patient. My thanks to all the staff I encountered.

What could be improved

I was a bit fed up at having to be kept in for an extra day when I had recovered, in order to wait for an ultrasound scan. Whilst I was given the option of coming back as an outpatient, yet dissuaded as I would have lower priority, it would have been far better if scanning could have been done sooner, thus freeing up the bed which I was occupying This is an obvious bottleneck in the system, so perhaps more scanning equipment needs to be purchased. Or used for a longer working day, to include weekends. It's obviously needed.