"Holly House Buckhurst Hill not that good."

My wife had a total hip replacement at Holly House Buckhurst Hill for the NHS on the 21st February and was initially booked in for four days. With hindsight I was subconsciously worried that the toilet seat may not have been at the correct height. When she had the other hip done seven years ago an assessment was made on the height of both our toilets which needed an attachment to the downstair loo to raise its height and another different attachment to the upstairs loo. This would be problem one. Problem two would have been allowing my wife to have a shower unattended. The shower/toilet floor was always littered with paraphernalia and trying to have a shower on crouches seems dangerous. Problem three: if there was a decision to send my wife home after three days then there was no discussion between a doctor and patient. The wound was dressed every day so we were surprised to be asked to return on March 6th, ten days later. Once home the wound leaked so much we rang the hospital for assistance but the line was permanently engaged so we rang the GP. On their arrival the leak did not surprise them as some surgeons, as in our case, do not use a drip so the excess fluid has to come out somewhere but what did surprise them was we had not received a visit from an occupational therapist to assess height of chairs and toilet, so problem four. Next day the leaking continued and we rang the hospital who suggested bringing my wife in. Car seats are not designed for hip replacement so the prospect of getting my wife in the car, out the car, wound redressed, back in the car, out the car did not meet with our enthusiasm and I suggest they come to us as we live eight minutes drive away. We heard no more until a district nurse came the same afternoon and continued to come until the clips came out on March 6th. A follow up appointment with the surgeon was advised and this we were told would be in six weeks time at Whipps Cross Hospital. After seven weeks and unanswered phones, and unanswered emails to two different email addresses we were still waiting. Returning to Holly House for the final physio appointment it was suggested we ask at outpatients reception to see if they could sort it. They wasted no time in contacting Whipps Cross and spoke to someone would insisted we had seen a doctor on the 6th March and had the wound redressed. Two days later Whipps Cross rang us again insisting we had seem a doctor on the 6th, according to their records. Finally we were given an appointment some ten weeks after surgery. Full marks to receptionist at outpatients and the physio but in other areas there is a need for improvement. Incidentally should the clips (they don't do stitches anymore) they put in be counted so that the same number can be removed.