"Ward 43"

I was rushed to KMH having breathing problems after a motorcycle accident in Spain which had happened in Spain some days earlier. The ambulance crew that collected me from home were very prompt, extremely polite and very professional, one of them even checked in on me some hours later to see if I was any better.

I was kept in and initially placed in the Emergency Admissions Unit (for a night) which wasn't such a good experience for me as it was busy, noisy and appeared undermanned. The nurses that were on were friendly and polite enough but my meds were over 3 hours delayed and even though I was in pain and asked several times for them I kept getting fobbed off. I understand that being undermanned is not the fault of the ward staff and they appeared to be trying their best but I was extremely pleased to be moved to WARD 43 in the morning.

WARD 43 was a whole different experience. Right from the start I was given a private room with its own bathroom, it was extremely clean, the staff were welcoming and when my meds were due, they arrived promptly.

The staff were informative at all times letting me know what was happening at each and every step of the way. On ward 43 I had time and space to recuperate, meals were good, tea was regular and when discharged, although I was pleased to be better and going home, I was kind of sad to leave.

The EAU needs work. The staff have a bigger and more stressful workload and the nature of the unit means that it is a busy place and therefore noisy.

On the whole, I am really pleased that KMH is my local hospital.