"Frimley Park is a credit to the NHS and we who..."

What I liked

The medical staff were thorough and efficient whilst at the same time informative and caring. Despite an early diagnosis of pneumonia, further tests were ordered which finally showed up a separate potentially fatal problem. This was discovered thanks to the persistance of the staff. At all times the nursing staff, though under heavy pressure, were friendly and seemed to make time to be reassuring. Even the cleaning staff had a smile. I felt in excellent hands and had complete confidence in my medical team.

What could be improved

In an ideal world, more resources would be allocated to ease the pressure on staff. However, I never heard any complaints from the staff even when they seemed exceptionally busy. I effectively blocked a bed in SAU for three days as even after it was decided that I was a medical rather than a surgical case, a bed on a medical ward could not be found. However, at no time was I made to feel that I was a "nuisance"!

Anything else?

I had earlier been discharged from another hospital after an emergency admission and what later proved to be a misdiagnosis. The insistence of the medical staff at Frimley to pursue further investigations may have saved my life! It would have been easy to accept the initial diagnosis of pneumonia rather than look for additional causes, particularly when I was blocking an emergency bed.