"Information about in-patient welfare"

I rang the hospital on Saturday 17/5/14 to find out how a friend was doing. She had had a hip replacement operation the day before. I was put through to someone who answered the phone saying she was 'accident and emergency'. I asked her if this was the right ext for my enquiry, then gave my friend's name and details. She said she couldn't find any record at all of my friend in the hospital, and that seemed to be that. The next day I double checked with another acquaintance who said she had actually visited my friend after the operation, giving me the name of the ward. How could it be, that I was unable to get this information? Is there really no centrally accessible list of all in-patients, which is available to all staff at the touch of a computer button. Why was I not put through to a person who would have known? The woman to whom I spoke was helpful and took a lot of trouble, but it took several minutes of her valuable time, all to no avail.