"I went into the neurosciences ..."

What I liked

I went into the neurosciences ward for surgery to my lower back in Feb 2010.

On the morning of my surgery i was seen by the surgeon, the anethetist and the people involved in my care. They were all very nice & approachable, answering all my questions as i had never been into hospital before.

When i was taken down into theatre, the person in the room offered to get me a blanket as i was so nervous and cold before they put the electrodes onto my body. They were so kind & reassuring. Thankyou.

When i came around from the operation in recovery, the people were very respectful and ensured that i had my glassess on as i have very poor eyesight. That was so important to me.

Back on the ward,my family were kept informed and brought down to see me, the curtain was pulled around by the student nurse to give privacy during this time.

When i did require help from the nurses, they responded very quickly.

I always had cold water to hand and my bed was always clean and fresh. The food was good, certaintly better than i was expecting, plenty of choice & variety.

The nurse on duty the next day kept me informed of all events and who i would need to contact when i was discharged.

Overall, i recieved a very good service and wish to thank the staff involved in my care for their support.

What could be improved

To be honest, there was just a couple of things i could suggest, to have more permanent staff on the wards rather than using agency staff. As a went into the hospital on a saturday, i was prepared for the fact that agency staff are used on a weekend (via the website) but it would provide more consistency of care if permanent staff are used.

The only other improvment i would suggest, is that it would have been helpful to have had the correct information from the waiting list officer before i was admitted to hospital. As this is a very anxious time for anyone, it is important to have the correct telephone number of the ward you are ringing and any additional information regarding the admission to hospital.