"The ambulance service was excellent. ..."

What I liked

The ambulance service was excellent. Initial reaction by A&E staf was also excellent. When it was agreed with the consultant that I could transfer to The Chaucer things went downhill from thereon.

I arrived at A&E at approximately 0930hrs. About 1100 hrs transfered to the 'diagnosed' part of A&E.

Several times I asked for a drink and some food - none of which arrived. It took over 30 minutes for a nurse to repond to a call. I left A&E at about 1830 hrs without having had a drink or food!

It seemed to me that the staff were not interested in my well being a i was being moved to The Chaucer and that they (the Chaucer) could feed me. The staff were aware that I was diabetic and that regular meals are essential.

What could be improved

The attitude of staff if I am correct should not be affected by where the patient was going to be treated. As far as I am concerned if you are at Canterbury then they should be responsible for your overall welfare until discharged.

Anything else?

I had the feeling that I was not elegible for NHS care as I had opted for the Chaucer. A form of inverted snobbery - this attitude should be disuaded.

It was also obvious that the number of staff on duty was totally inadequate and management should get rid of a couple of managers and employ nursing staff.

The hospital shoud encourage more people to take health insurance which in turn relieves the National Health.