"Excelled my expectations Friday 19th September..."

I was taken to Watford General Hospital after being assessed at Hemel.. I arrived at the emergency dept and quickly taken to a cubicle and made comfortable. The staff were friendly polite and explained everything to me. I was admitted to Cleves Ward to await my operation to put in a plate and 2 screws. Unfortunately my foot remained swollen which meant in all I had a 8 days stay. All the staff were very kind and considerate but would like to specially mention one who made it possible to say my goodbyes to a good friend who had been admitted to ITU. The member of staff who cleaned the ward and later the room I was given did a marvellous job and was always courteous, they left it spotless - no germs allowed here!! The housekeeper was very efficient and the food was fantastic. What a wide range of choice and everything was good. How you manage to produce all the food on such a large scale and still be of such a high quality and tasting so good can only be because of staff who are fully committed to produce lovely tasty meals - well done. My only 2 comments are regarding staff co-operation the first was a consultant who came around to see me, on day 6 that I hade never seen before and tried to get me to change my mind regarding an operation (that 3 consultants/drs has told me I needed). I did stand my ground as I did not like what was suggested, which was of having it plastered and x-rayed for every week for 3 weeks and if it had not worked still the having the op. I said that I wanted it fixed once and for all not have the thought that if it didn't work I would then have to wait for a bed and have the op that would correct it. The consultant made a comment on my last day on their rounds - Was I happy now I had had the op - (I found this rude) The consultant put this comment on my discharge summary. I am not a person who relishes any op, but the consultant made me very unhappy. The only other concern I had was with the Physiotherapists who came round the day after my op and asked me if I thought I could manage the stairs, I said I would give it a go. How I managed the stairs I shall never know (maybe it was the medication I had just been given for the pain!) when I got back to the room I wrote what the physiotherapist had told me, but could not remember where I should be putting the crutches, so asked the nurse if they knew. The nurse didn't but left a message for the physio team to pop back to see me. This never happened and I had a terrible couple of nights trying to get up the top stair after going up on my bottom. This could have easily been corrected if they gave you a simple sheet of things especially going upstairs. I would like to end on a high note and say a very Big Thank-you to all the staff at the hospital who made my stay the best it could have been. I work for the NHS so do understand all the financial restrictions and staffing problems.