"Beautiful clean building. Lovely, ..."

What I liked

Beautiful clean building. Lovely, courteous and friendly staff. That includes everyone I came across from the receptionists to the consultants. Not kept waiting excessively long times for bloods or scans.

What could be improved

They are one of the best hospitals in the country with some of the most gifted doctors. But there is little continuity of care. In the diabetes / endocrinology department, I've never seen the same doctor twice. While they are all very good, all I really want is continuity and to see the same person. It's frustrating to have to explain everything again, every time you go because yet another doctor doesn't know your file or anything about you. They all seem to have very different ideas about what they'll do for you. One will suggest one treatment and the other will suggest something else. It's quite frustrating.

My problems were related to womens health and I would have wanted to stay seeing the female consultant I saw only once. I did find it deeply uncomfortable to talk about very personal issues with a male consultant but again, you take who you get and there's no point asking as they say they just can't guarantee who you will see. I've been to other hospitals where I've seen the same consultant every time I've been there. How? They allocate you to someone and you stay with them. The consultant's name goes on your file and stays there: it isn't that hard surely.

They also take a very long time to write to you. Other hospitals have taken 7-10 days. With UCH it's often over a month before they write to your GP. If you need to see your GP after the appointment, it's frustrating as they're not yet in the loop as UCH hasn't written yet.

Anything else?

Other than the continuity, it's a wonderful hospital. But then what good is a nice building if you always feel like it's the first time you've been there seeing yet another different doctor who have totally different ideas about your condition and treatment.