"Check-up for possible DVT after hip operation was..."

2 weeks after a hip replacement operation (not at the RBH) while recovering at home on 23rd June 2014 my leg became very swollen and I was concerned that I might be developing a DVT. I rang 111 and from their assessment I was advised to go to A&E. Unfortunately it was by then late evening and I finally arrived just after midnight. I was seen for initial assessment after about 30 mins and was apologetically told that I was in for a 4 hr wait. I realise that seating in the waiting area has to be tough and easily cleaned but those metal benches really are awful and noisy - take your own cushion! Is it not possible to provide some better seating for those who need it - I felt that even if I didn't have a DVT when I went in I would soon have! I was then seen at about 03:45 and from then on I was impressed by the service, staff attitudes, friendliness. Although I did not have the full blown symptoms of a DVT there was no sense of any criticism for being perhaps over-cautious in attending A&E and I was given a blood-thinning injection and offered a clinic appointment for later that day (which I couldn't take up because of a physio. session already arranged), and an appointment was made for the next day. I arrived early for that examination on the afternoon of 25th and was seen straight away by a very cheerful, friendly nurse who provisionally diagnosed a Baker's Cyst. I was smoothly moved on to a short wait for an ultra-sound scan that confirmed the diagnosis and back to the nurse who explained the cause, nature, and implications of the condition and I left with a useful information leaflet, the whole process having taken just over an hour. Throughout I was treated with respect and courtesy, as an intelligent, capable man - which sometimes doesn't happen when you're 82. RBH often seems to get a lot of criticism but on this experience I have no hesitation in saying well done - if the stall concerned recognise this particular event in their busy lives I'd like to say thank you all.