"Large enought to cope, small enough to care, well..."

What I liked

My fiancee was referred to Rugby, after requesting a second opinion of from her GP following a letter from our own more local hospital dismissing the fact of injury, a matter that we had both been witness to and been a victim of on at least three occasions.

From the initial out patients appointment to our last experience in the day surgery unit we couldn't fault how staff treated us, and how they treat each other. There is this modern trend towards communicating via email, not so at Rugby and all staff are friendly and personal and treat one another with respect, regardless of their medical qualifications. They add that personal touch to nursing. Even the surgeon came to visit post surgery on his way home to see how his patient was doing.

Large enough to cope, small enough to care, Hospital and its staff are a credit to the trust.

What could be improved

I think the facilities in some parts looked a little tired, having said that they were clean. This is very much a cottage hospital in every sense of the word. We went to the A&E one night, unfortunately at night it becomes a nurse led unit, however the receptionist and Nurse Practitioner were very professional and friendly. The receptionist even took the time to look up my fiancees record to see how far she was on the surgeons list and reassured us from the moment we arrived.

The canteen was a little dated, and they didn't have any chips ready, they soon cooked me some when asked and my food was hot, again it was a very personal service. Many hospitals now have franchises taking over, such as high street coffee chains, charging motorway prices knowing they have a captive audience.

Anything else?

Parking was cheap, even an option of the first 30 minutes free, a far cry from my recent visit to my local hospital for a blood test where I had to pay nearly £3 to park for less than five minutes.