"I spent time in Sarah and Esther Ward..."

What I liked

I spent time in Sarah and Esther Ward for an operation recently and cannot explain how impressed I was with this hospital. The staff all worked really well together and the nurses were all really amazing and supportive.

What could be improved

A few things

- Greater emphasis on patients keeping the noise down when using their mobile phones - the person next to me spent most of the day/night on the phone talking really loudly and when she wasn't on the phone was texting with extremely loud keypad tonnes or it was ringing constantly - which was torturous just after surgery when all you want to do is rest.

- Speed up the discharge of patients/ getting medicines from pharmacies - a lot of the patients in the discharge lounge were giving the poor nurse a really hard time about the delays, which can be a bit soul destroying for the staff who have no control over how long the pharmacy take. Also hours and hours of waiting around can be tiresome for patients after an operation when all they want to do is go home and get some rest.

Anything else?

Having an operation can be pretty daunting but everyone who was involved in my treatment (doctors, nurses, caterers, cleaners, students etc) and stay were amazing and this truely is the NHS at it's best - I just hope that in the face of 'austerity' this passion and commitment from the staff remains. And hopefully more people who have had positive experiences with the NHS post comments.