My husband had to go into hospital last Sunday for an operation. He was told to arrive at 07:30 having first to ring to ensure a bed was available. We were told that it was anticipated there would be a bed available.
We arrived at the requested time, i.e. 07:30 and there were 3 other patients also waiting having been told to arrive at the same time. We waited in a corridor between 2 wards where it was rather cold, for a further 3 and a half hours, whilst waiting for other patients to be discharged. Then my husband went to the bed and was checked in, saw the anaesthetist and changed into the gown ready for his operation, by which time it was 12:30 and was then told he was last on the list and would be going to theatre in about 3 hours time.
Yesterday I went to collect him, i.e. 1 day later after he was told at 11:10 that he could go home, so I arrived at 12:15 and upon entering the ward area, noticed that there were about 6 people waiting for beds, some of which had been there since 07:30 that morning. My husband was ready to go, but was then waiting for prescription drugs, which were on the ward and was eventually released at 13:20.
Another gentleman on the same ward had been told that he could go home the following morning and was ready to go at 08:30, but waited until 13:00 for his prescription to arrive.
My thoughts are that I cannot praise the staff enough for the treatment he received. However, I wonder if there could be a more efficient method of fast tracking patients, e.g. have a small area to one side, where patients who have been released from the ward, who are waiting for prescriptions can wait thus allowing the new intake of patients to have beds. Also if there are no beds available, (I would have thought highly unlikely at 07:30 in the morning) why not ask the patient to come into the hospital later, thus causing less stress when they are waiting, and they could wait in a warmer environment.
Please note this is constructive and not in any way a complaint regarding our wonderful NHS.
"Waiting time before bed ready"
About: Warrington Hospital Warrington Hospital Warrington WA5 1QG
Posted by Lymmbo (as ),
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