"The A&E department where ..."

What I liked

The A&E department where I was admitted were absolutely fantastic. I was brought in by ambulance and was very panicky but the triage nurse along with the registrar that I saw calmed me down and let me know exactly what was going on. The night staff working on my first night on the ward were also very good, including the on call surgical resident,

What could be improved

I stayed on ward 15 after being admitted with complications following a tonsilectomy. Whilst there the sisters on the ward were very helpful however the health care assistants spent alot of time complaining about how short staffed they were and then followed with how they had been chatting to the other nurses down the hall. I understand that there are staffing shortages but surely this means that the staff working should try to be efficient and not stand around chatting? Also on the day that I was discharged I was told I would be able to leave at about 11am I then waited until 4.30pm for my chart to come back from the pharmacy, again a backlog is understandable but within this time I received no painkillers or antibiotics both of which had been due at 10.30am. I think that it would be beneficial to implement a system to ensure that patients aren't left in pain or without their medication as the pharmacy is busy. Medication was also given late at other times during my stay and on one occasion a nurse told the sister that I had been given my full dose when in fact I only received half. All of these issues combined with other minor ones made my stay at the hospital even more stressful than it would have been anyway.