"Appendectomy"

'Would You Recommend Us?" I’m not sure why many of the staff were wearing these badges but on balance I'm afraid the answer would have to be no. When we arrived at the Clinical Assessment Unit, at about 9.30 am, we were very impressed with the service. Things started to go wrong once the diagnosis had been confirmed. We were told an operation would have to be performed but not when, so for most of the day (until 7pm when a theatre slot became available) we were left in a state of limbo. Many different staff came and went (often with long intervals between visits) but no one seemed able to let us know what was going on behind the scenes. All we needed was someone to sit down and explain what was happening, to set our minds at ease. When you are in pain it doesn’t help that some staff give the impression they think you’re making a fuss when you request pain relief, and a word of advice to managers, if you spot something which hasn’t been carried out to your high standard please don’t make the member of staff concerned apologise to the patient, that just embarrasses the patient and makes the member of staff resentful. When I phoned Daycase next day I was told I could visit at 3pm. When I reported to the reception at Daycase the receptionist appeared cross with me and kept repeating “I don’t know who told you that” once I’d explained about the phone call. I was then made to wait over 30 minutes. When I tentatively enquired whether I had been forgotten the receptionist responded as though she’d never seen me before, making me repeat everything I’d previously told her (it wasn’t busy). Discharge day, my partner was made to walk (carrying a large bag of personal effects) across the hospital to the Departure Lounge, despite the fact that he was in a lot of pain and had trouble catching his breath. This was at 10.30; he didn’t receive discharge notes/ drugs enabling him to leave, until 3.45pm. What kind of crazy system puts recovering patients in a holding bay for 5 hours? Finally I am concerned how little information I have been given about post-operative care. I have searched the internet for information but inevitably different sites give conflicting advice. Whilst searching online I came across PDFs of leaflets provided by other hospitals. Could Hereford Hospital not provide similar info? To conclude 4 areas need improving: 1) Communication 2) Information 3) Discharge 4) Visiting. My partner and I are well aware that the NHS is underfunded and that most staff are low paid and overworked so we tried to make allowances however, while some staff were lovely others were indifferent and one or two were downright rude.