"I have spent the past three days ..."

What I liked

I have spent the past three days on ward 113 and 112 in the childrens department at this hospital with my son who has had a chest infection.

On admittance and to the time we left, the staff who dealt with us (nurses, doctors, students, paediatricians, caterers) were excellent. They were caring, helpful, friendly and treated my son brilliantly well. They were very informative and I did not feel afraid to ask questions. I felt his care and needs were in good hands.

Hygiene on the childrens wards was very good although there was a lot of dust under my bed as my older son discovered when he visited.

Facilities for play that i saw and that my sons used were excellent, and i was very impressed.

mealtimes, a member of staff said she'd bring my son lunch yesterday and never did, but aside from that occasion, again, great service.

rooms were adequate and we were comfortable, warm enough and had what we needed.

I had concerns yesterday that i wanted my son to stay in until today even though the staff felt my son was well enough to be discharged. The staff listened to my concerns and allowed this and i felt they were very considerate and helpful.

I can not fault our experience, it was very positive and i'd like the moderator to pass my personal thanks to all the staff on wards 112 and 113 for their service over the last few days as they were brilliant.

What could be improved

on entering the site, around 2pm monday it was IMPOSSIBLE to find parking! i think this would have been due to an influx of visitors, but for patients, its frustrating trying to park to get in and be seen when theres no space because its all gone. perhaps patient only parking could be an option for some small areas? so people who need to get in and be seen have one less thing to panic about!

i found that the staff were VERY busy, and the paediatricians and nurses sometimes took a long time to get to people. they were excellent once we saw them, but can I say, i think your staff are overstretched sometimes and this is unfair on them! i was told at teatime my son would have bloods but no one came to do this until 12pm! this is not the staffs fault, more that they have too much to do and its unfair as it gets excellent staff bad press!

Anything else?

as i said way up there - well done, please pass my sincere thanks to all on the wards we were on as they were truly fantastic and a credit to the nhs, and thanks for looking after my baby boy so well!