"My overall experience was a very good one!"

What I liked

These comments are mainly directed at the Nursing and other staff on ward C5, where i was a patient between 12 and 18 Nov 2011.

Generally I can say that from the moment the ambulance guys arrived at my front door (at about 3.30am on 12 Nov, when I was in awful pain from a kidney stone) until the time I was discharged from ward C5, I had a fantastic and very caring experience at the hands of NHS staff. This includes short stays on A&E and the STU unit.

The ambulance guys were very friendly and patient with me, despite me being sick 3 times in the ambulance on the way to the hospital! I thank them for that and hopefully they will be forwarded these comments. When I arrived in A&E I was seen quickly and thankfully given some pain relief! Staff were again very friendly and professional. This was also the case on STU where I had to have some more pain relief.

Once on the ward I felt settled in very quickly. I can honestly say that all the staff I came across on C5 were excellent with me (friendly, patient, professional and helpful), even though I probably wasn't the best at suffering pain. The ward seemed a 'happy ship' to work on - the staff seemed to work well together and with the patients.

Thanks also to the Consultant and his team, who extracted the kidney stone successfully on 17 Nov. I was not due to have the operation done until 21 Nov but at my request the Consultant fitted me in to his schedule on the 17th, which I was very grateful for!

The porters and theatre staff were also very friendly and put me at my ease prior to going into theatre.

What could be improved

This is a fairly small gripe, but perhaps one area I would mention here would be catering, in that some of the time when I ordered certain desserts on the meal order forms which we were given, the correct dessert did not arrive on the trolley and sometimes no dessert arrived. The meals generally were fine, this comment just applies to the desserts.

Also, when the doctors come round to the bedside they could perhaps at times be more attentive to patients views and questions, although I realise that a lot of this is probably due to constraints of time. Again this is a minor gripe, but is something to perhaps bear in mind.

Anything else?

cont'd from 'What I Liked' above.

Before this recent hospital stay I was always a big supporter of the wonderful service that is the NHS (I hate to think where I would have been without it in the early hours of 12 Nov), and my recent experience has only added to this. Long live this wonderful service - it must be kept free at the point of need for patients. That, together with its staff is its biggest strength!

So thank you to all the staff I came in contact with and who treated me in any way. I am now back at home and feel fully recovered, just 9 days after the onset of that horrendous pain. I feel lucky to have such a great health service available when I need it.

(Could I ask that you please forward my comments to the relevant staff / wards , as positive feedback is sometimes not championed enough).