"Breast out patient dept weekend clinic no waiting."

My original appointment was cancelled, but rescheduled for a weekend, which was great as I didn't have to take time off work. I appreciated the text reminders.

Walking into the hospital there is no welcome other than an electronic check in, which worked. The route to the dept is well signposted, it is a shame that the corridors which have had photographs of nature put on them, are obscured by carts carrying crushed cardboard and other waste/supplies. It felt like you being sent to the estates dept. For me a routine appointment, anxiety was low but for another person this could be quite different. I arrived 20mins early as parking had been really easy and no traffic, a positive for a weekend clinic. There was a receptionist in the waiting area, but as I had checked in there was no interaction. The waiting room was almost empty a stark contrast to when I have attended mid week. I was amazed to have my appointment called 15 minutes early, previously it had been over an hour wait as demand clearly exceeded capacity. Distributing services over 7 days is the way forward but other services need to also be open, it feels like you are walking into a closed dept currently. A lady asked where she could get a coffee as had split appointments and was told to go to Bexley or Gledhow, as nothing was open in Chancellor, no one offered to make her a drink, there were only 3 patients in the waiting room, or asked her if she knew how to get there, the hospital is massive and patients will be fearful to leave the dept in case they miss there slot. She asked the receptionist if she could stay and read her book and was told she had to ask a nurse....why?

I was very impressed by the medic, who introduced themselves by name and role. The nurse had no name page, was there as a chaperone, I assumed, but there was no introduction. It is a shame with the #hello my name is campaign being taken on by LTHT I would have hoped nursing would have embraced this. The medic was professional, caring and informative her manner was pleasant and made me feel at ease. There were clear instructions on what to expect next and how to communicate with them if I had any issues. I would recommend the service based on the skills and expertise of the medical staff, more can be done on the route to the clinic and the general environment and communications skills of other members of the team.

(Breast outpatients not listed as a dept so selected general surgery - no space for other)