"I was placed on your ward 14when ..."

What I liked

I was placed on your ward 14when I arrived on the Monday morning. It was the first time I had ever spent nights in hospital. As soon as I arrived I was seen by the staff-nurse who filled in the paperwork and soon after that by the ward doctor and the registrar. From there I was sent to the Radiology Department for x-rays and on the Tuesday an ultrasound scan. During all this time your staff were nothing short of fantastic. I was of course scared being suddenly in an alien environment. All of your staff were in and out of the bay every couple of minutes and nothing at all was too much trouble for them. Although they were courteous they were very human too and always had a smile. One of my fellow patients was in pain and uncomfortable and although the nurses needed to change his bedding many times, they came in the room every time with a broad smile and a cheery attitude. He was clearly upset at what he was making them do but every time they reassured him that it was no problem and this was what they were there to do. Everyone on that ward, from the cleaners, the nurses and the catering staff through to the doctors and consultant were outstanding.

On the Wednesday I needed an MRI scan. The problem was that the procedure following that was only available on the Thursday. To save me missing that Thursday slot, the MRI team squeezed me into an already full schedule and agreed to ‘do’ me during their lunch break as long as I went early and waited for up to an hour to make the slot. This of course was a godsend to me.

Following my discharge I was given an option of waiting a few months for surgery at Airedale or waiting only a week and paying to have it done at the Yorkshire Clinic. I opted for the latter because of the pain I was in and the need to get it done. The procedure has gone fine (as you would expect) but I can tell you the care and attention at the Yorkshire Clinic was poor in comparison to that at Airedale 2 weeks earlier.

What could be improved

Nothing