"Too long a wait time. Rushed staff at the end..."

There is no category for general outpatients which is the department I attended and am leaving this review for. As my visit is related to Gastrointestinal and liver services I have put this.

I am more than aware of the pressures on the NHS and my visit today demonstrated these. It is not the fault of any member of staff, but the system that they are working in.

Patents in the department I was in today were waiting over an hour past their appointment times to see consultants in General Outpatients. These are all people who have booked an appointment on a system, had multiple reminders of the date and time of this appointment and have rearranged their days to suit the time that they have booked. This is a completely unacceptable waiting time.

When I arrived there was no longer "refreshments" on the table provided. I went to ask at the reception and was greeted by a very kind member of staff on the way who got some more water. I think this should have been kept topped up through the day. I don't know when it had run out, but I think patients (especially those waiting over an hour) should have access to drinking water at all times.

We were told that we could leave the waiting room and take a pager (through a poster and when I spoke to a member of staff). Luckily I had bought baby snacks with us and my daughter remained in a mainly positive mood for the wait so I did not need to leave the waiting area. Other patients however were not as lucky, many appeared to have mobility difficulties or had arrived in wheelchairs with porters so could not leave.

All staff I saw on the day were polite and courteous to me - especially those I saw coincidentally in the corridors (while walking around with my one year old daughter). The nurse who took my height and weight and the nurse who escorted me to the doctor and took swabs were both very accommodating of my daughter and her needs.

However, in my appointment I felt extremely rushed - again, not at all the fault of the staff, but that it was way past the end of their shifts, shifts that no doubt had started early that morning, with few minutes for breaks. I saw an obviously tired and over worked Consultant for no more than 5 minutes, barely time to gather my thoughts. In retrospect there are things I would have liked to say / ask that I didn't. I was left to read the information about the surgery while the consultant wrote his notes and I was given swabs by the nurse. I hope that I will have time to discuss things further in the pre-op, which I will not book for the end of a shift.

If I had known that I was going to be waiting for over an hour for a five minute appointment I would have chosen a different hospital.

As an aside, your rating system is flawed. There is nothing there to show that my dissatisfaction is with the waiting times.