"A difficult time, made easier by calm,..."

What I liked

The pre-admission appointment worked well, allaying some alarms that my partner had over her hysterectomy.

The ward staff in 11a south were extremely attentive, and professional, particularly during the first night post op when my partner spiked a temperature. We were also very impressed with the cleanliness of the ward and the quality of food.

The ward manager assisted my partner on the next day post op, removing the packing etc, which was quite painful, and helping her into the chair. She gave a lot of calm and comforting words as well as encouragement on how she managed.

Most staff in 11A south had difficulty finding a vein in my partners arms, except a talented young doctor. We can't name him, but he was brilliant, spending time listening and explaining what he was doing.

What could be improved

Communication between Departments - for example:

My partner was phoned on the Friday before the appointment, asking if she was still going to attend for her operation, which we found rather bemusing, as she had attended the pre-op appointment. The lady didn't want her hospital number, just a name and said "Are you sure you're coming in?"

No-one had advised us that the surgeon/consultant had been changed, until he appeared in the admissions ward and then only when we asked if he was carrying out the procedure.

Also, on the day of the operation by about 11am I tried several places to find out where she was, i.e. still in surgery or in recovery, and no-one could tell me. It was extremely frustrating, even PALS couldn't find out for me.

We think it would be good if a better way for patient and loved ones to say good-bye could be found, we were asked to say goodbye whilst waiting for the lift in the corridor by the person who was taking my partner to theatre with out any privacy We both found it rather traumatic and awkward.

The first day, post op, my partner knew she had to go for an x-ray, but no-one had said why, the porter told her when she arrived in radiology which caused some anxiety. It would have been helpful for a doctor to explain before she left the ward. Thankfully everything was ok.

Whilst the writen information that gave details before admision that was good it did not contain any information regarding proecdures about the the stay in hospital or how relatives could be given information, we were given some information in the way of phone numbers at the preoperation visit but this was verbal with it being writen down at that time.