"The place was clean, staff were ..."

What I liked

The place was clean, staff were friendly- except in A & E- my partner and I heard them mouthing off patients and their general attitude was rude and condescending. The hospital guides were the best- lovely people that gave character to the place- it was lovely to see them always smiling, cheery and professional. I didn't need their help but I saw them in action whilst there.

What could be improved

1) Access to x-rays for the fracture clinic nurses before they administer a plaster especially for unusual breaks. I had a plaster done and had it on for 5 weeks- during which I saw a doctor and the fracture nurse 4 times each- only to go back and have the 5th doctor say that the plaster wasn't put on right- he said- "Now what way did they put on that plaster? The bone is still pushing out" He then said we needed to do a new plaster and reposition the bone. If the plaster nurse had seen my x ray she would have known beforehand and helped me better instead of disregarding 5 weeks of my life.

2) Also, for unusul breaks, x rays should be offered AFTER the plaster is done to make sure the bones are repositioned correctly. I wore my plaster for 5 weeks only to go back to be told that my bones weren't positioned properly. I was and still am extremely upset and distressed about this and asked for an x ray to be done to check that it was indeed in the right place this time and the nurse explained that there was nothing she or the doctor could do to help me any better than what they'd already done. I appreciate that her hands were tied and she has limited authority to act but it doesn't help me because I don't have another appointment now till 3 weeks and who knows if its positioned properly now- my worst nightmare is that I'll go back and they'll say its not and then it'll be 8 weeks of my life wasted just cause an x ray couldn't be done to check that it was done properly- God help me- so yes- this is my suggestion for improvement- please offer x rays to check that for unusual breaks the bones are repositioned properly after the plaster is done.

3) A&E staff were rude and condescending - my partner and I overheard them mouthing off patients. Then, when it was my turn, one of the women was rude to me- she was mouthing off a patient with young man and the other woman and I'd just arrived. I stood there and waited for her to finish talking as I was first in the queue and then politely greeted her and she rudely told me to take a number and wait to be called- but there was no one else at the counter!- I took the number and waited and then overheard her moaning to the other two about my and my partner coming to the counter, then my number was called and I had my turn- I was so distressed about my arm that I didn't have the strength to say anything to her about it- so anyways- sorry for the ramble- it's all coming back to me now is all- my suggestion for improvement is to send these members of staff for further training- I appreciate that their jobs are very stressful so maybe its a good idea to devise training to target this? I'm sure the NHS are fed up of people always moaning at them for things they can't help but hopefully this is something you can do something about?