"I attended the Treatment Centre ..."

What I liked

I attended the Treatment Centre for prostate surgery, and the entire experience could not have been better. I was greeted by friendly staff, and asked to change into a gown. I was then interviewed privately by my anaesthetist, and, after a short period sitting in a modern lounge watching a plasma TV, I had a private discussion with the surgeon who was to carry out the procedure. After another short wait I was collected and taken to the operating theatre where I met the very friendly team who prepared me for surgery. When I woke up in the recovery room I was cared for extremely well before being transferred to a ward.

One might be forgiven for thinking that this was a very expensive private facility, as the treatment could not have been bettered anywhere. It was absolutely top class.

What could be improved

The ward however, was an entirely different story. They appeared to be very short-staffed. The food was - as expected – awful. And a person apparently reacting badly to drugs kept everyone awake all night turning the lights on and off and repeatedly shouting that he had been kidnapped. The staff had no solution for the problem, so no one slept, and tempers were very frayed by morning. I managed – out of desperation - to get myself discharged before having to spend another night.

It would seem to make sense to have one or two rooms where clearly disruptive patients could be looked after while other patients slept.

Anything else?

The hospital building itself is very clean and modern with excellent snack and coffee facilities, and a world-class art collection in the enormous atrium. If one doesn't have to stay in, there are few better places to be treated.