"I had a very good experience at the Darent Valley..."

What I liked

I was treated very well by the following departments when attending the Darent Valley Hospital on Monday 19th March 2012, after being referred there with some urgency by my GP.

A&E, Short Stay and Gastroenterology. Even the guys wheeling me about on the trollies were very chatty and friendly.

ALL the staff were marvelous and could not help me enough. (I think by cracking a few jokes with them also helps and breaks up their day.)

Basically you have to treat them like human beings and not dirt.

So, a special thanks to all the staff there.

What could be improved

There are a couple of areas which could be improved upon.

1. In the A&E waiting area it may be beneficial if there was a loud speaker system so that patients could actually hear their names being called. Or, the names being repeated a number of times to ensure they hadn't left the building, before assuming they had.

2. Again in the A&E waiting area, the vents just by the window need a good clean as they are full up with paper and dust.