Pauline Perren

Review of Basingstoke and North Hampshir...

When I walked into A&E I was shocked at the state ...

When I walked into A&E I was shocked at the state of the building, setup and surroundings. The nurse was dismissive and verging on rude. Her questions were rapid with no time to think about the answers, which when youre unwell isnt easy. There was zero privacy and staff were clueless about the process sending us the wrong way towards a part of the hospital that was locked off meaning we had to navigate ourselves and rely on the mercy of a cleaner to let us through, again not easy when you are feeling so ill. The GP who saw us was thorough but had to be really firm with another team to get any further tests. On the ward staff were so short staffed for the number of patients in their care.
They were uncoordinated which meant wasting valuable time at one point cleaning and remaking beds three times that had already been done. The registrar prescribed a certain pain killer which we couldn't take with us and drugs given during our 7 hour wait were not noted which is scary and delayed us further. I know this is the NHS and it's free. I know there is little money to have a perfect environment and state of the art equipment. I felt like I was in a poor country that could do no better, but having been to several other A&E depts in Hampshire I know they aren't all like this. There are lots of promotional materials for the private clinic around the corner though....mainly in the filthy lift. Feeling sad and shocked at this experience.