"very poor switchboard servce"

I called the switchboard service on Saturday 8th October at around 9:30 am in order to find out what ward a somebody had been placed on.

I explained that I was a member of staff from a supported living scheme and that one of our residents had been admitted to the hospital the day before.

The first person I spoke to asked me what site the patient was on then before I could answer put me back on hold and the phone cut out.

I rang again and had to wait another 20 minutes to be put through.

I again explained that I was trying to find out what ward one of our residents was on and the person I spoke with asked me what ward I was trying to be put through to.

This shows that they weren't even listening to what I had asked for.

Then they randomly put me through to AL3 ward.

By this time I had spent 45 minutes on the phone trying to find out something simple.

They say that calls are recorded for quality and training purposes and I really hope they use my call to show how not to do things

It seems that the people working on switchboard don't have a clue what they are doing.

After speaking with the staff on AL3 ward they put me through to another ward randomly without even explaining what they were doing.

This service is so poor its actually unbelievable.