"Quick, Effective, Caring & Pleasant Stay"

STAY: Approx. 36 hours, 2 days and 1 night.

WARD: Surgery Ward 1.

PROCEDURE: Minor surgery requiring General Anaesthetic.

TRIAGE: Completed within my first hour on arrival to A&E.

WAITING TIME: Approx. 3 hours due to higher priority cases, did not Breach.

WAITING ROOM: Some chairs were comfy whilst others were not; a small, semi-open section with a broken vending machine, chairs, side tables and magazines was also available as part of the waiting area.

INITIAL ASSESSMENT(S): Seen and cannulated by Nurse (friendly and competent), then seen twice by a Junior Doctor (friendly and competent) and then seen by a Registrar Surgeon (friendly and competent). Transferred to Ward and given bed not long after.

WARD BED: Large, comfortable mattress that is able to be electronically adjusted via Staff.

WARD ROOM: 6-person communal room with draw-around curtains providing sufficient (at least for me) privacy for each patient, as well as space to maneuever within a fully-drawn curtain. 1 of the 4 curtain sides is shared with the adjacent patient however, rather than having all 4 curtain "walls" being independently your own. Adjustable tray is provided which is sufficent for many tasks such as eating/reading/organizing etc.

WARD FACILITIES: Plenty of nearby toilets, showers are thermostat operated and can be manually adjusted, toilet flusher and sink taps have to be physically activated with handles rather than with IR touchless sensors like in some other nearby Units. All toilets/showers appeared to be Disabled-Friendly. Some showers would leak though and water would spread across to the far-side of the room's floor, take care when showering so as to not have any clothing on the floor drenched accidentally. Pretty much all bathroom lights were physical switches/cords and not automatic IR activated ones like in other Units. The ward facilities and slightly claustrophobic environment were probaby the weakest part of this review: they were adequate but not special.

FOOD: Sufficient choice, quality and accomodations for Kosher/Halal/Vegetarian/Easy Chew/Low Fibre/Higher Energy/portion size were made clear on the menu which is given to you daily, the food is also given to you at your bed, rather than a communal dining room. Additional food and drinks can be requested by staff 24/7 (something which I did use!). One Nurse did accidentally attempt to give me a sandwich that had been 4 days expired, however once I alerted Nurse to it, they quickly apologized and sorted me with a proper lunch pack from downstairs.

STAFF: Very friendly, kind, attentive to my needs, displayed empathy, were accomodating, were not dismissive or patronizing, open to conversation/had a laugh when less busy and were all-around very pleasant. I would probably say the staff performance, competence and behaviour make up the strongest part of my review: they were lovely, zero negative instances - unlike in other nearby Units, sadly. I enjoyed my stay, thank you for helping me.