"From Bob Percival (patient July ..."

What I liked

From Bob Percival (patient July 2007)

My wife thought I'd had a stroke. She phoned NHS Direct. Within 20 minutes they had got me to Whipps. I'm 65. Never been in hospital before.

Hospital tests showed I had a condition I had never even heard of.

I was cared for on Curie ward, and six days later I was well enough to go home.

I liked:

1) staff who give you reassurance when you need it e.g. on admission

2) doctors, nurses and domestic staff who tell you what they are doing and why

3) the other patients I met on Curie Ward

I can't compare Whipps Cross with other hospitals, but the service I had at Whipps was first class all round. Back home now still on the mend with lots of pills still to take.

What could be improved

Hospital meals are quite adequate.

But to improve the service, I'd hand out (or read out) to each patient a menu in advance of service so most of us could choose what we wanted. Do it at the bedside face to face and ask if the food should be cut up fine or if help is needed with, say, food in protective wrapping.

If you are in bed hooked up to wires and tubes you can't go over and see what's on offer. Calling out "Chips or mashed potatoes?" is fine for most patients, but if you don't hear too well or the language used is not your style of English there are problems.

Or would a written menu be an infection hazard?