"Theatre staff were wonderful and the..."

What I liked

Theatre staff were wonderful and the surgeon did a great job.

What could be improved

Treat the whole person! This hospital seems to have a "one size fits all" approach where they treat the condition you are admitted for with no consideration for your other health problems. Be warned that if you are having general surgery you will not have a bed until after your operation. You will be left sitting for several hours in an uncomfortable waiting room dressed in a hospital gown. You will not be offered a pillow and half the people in the room will be unable to see the tiny tv. You will be given no clue where you are on the theatre list or how long the wait will be. If you are unfortunate enough to have a condition such as MS or similar with weak muscles making sitting difficult and tiring you will receive no sympathy or assistance. You will be mostly ignored and feel invisible. So please will staff on the pre-op unit stop being so cruel and spare a thought for patient comfort. We are already anxious about the surgery and deserve better. Also will all staff realise that patients are real people with feelings and do not all have the same needs.

Anything else?

I had my gall bladder removed and arrived on ward 7 early evening in quite a lot of pain. I had very little sleep and was discharged the following morning despite crying with pain and frustration, being told "you have to go as we need the bed". All I wanted was to be allowed to sleep for a few hours before going home. I spent the rest of the day vomiting and was in terrible pain for several days. I had no choice of breakfast which was almost thrown at me. I never saw a smile, I was injected in the arm without warning (the bruise still there 6 weeks later), I was not offered the opportunity to clean my teeth or wash and given no help to dress. It seemed to me that ward 7 is run for the convenience of the staff and not the needs of patients. I found out later that there was no urgency for the bed, it was just that they like to discharge patients early simply for expediency. I was not there long enough to notice cleanliness. I don't know why I bothered to mention my other health problems at pre-op as I found out later that ward staff were completely unaware of them. Presumably they did not bother to look at my notes. I can only assume that this is all down to shortage of staff who are overworked and stressed. This does not however give them the right to take it out on patients.