R Nesan

Review of Northwick Park HART Team

This is a large NHS foundation trust hospital. The...

This is a large NHS foundation trust hospital. The buildings are mostly grey concrete, hence do appear off-putting.

It has an A&E section. With many of the emergency services discontinued in surrounding hospitals, this one has risen in importance and, as a corollary, the throughput has gone up too.

It has a range of specialities but some are run by other Trusts. For instance, Moorfields Eye Hospital has an operation here and the mental health services are run by Central and North West London Trust. This causes some bizarre situations. For example, the Mental Health Services cannot order medicines from the hospital's pharmacy. They have to get it from their own pharmacy which is miles away. This means there could be a 24- hour wait to get drugs for mental health patients.

Waiting times at A&E could be long. I have seen 3 - 4 hours being displayed on the electronic board in the reception. That said, when my wife went to the A&E on two occasions in 2017, she was seen within one hour. Once you get through to the inner sanctum, it does take a long time to be seen by a doctor--as long as 3 or 4 hours. And, by the time all the diagnostics are done, it could be 8 to 12 hours. I personally felt that the time taken was too long. I believe this is due to the department not being adequately staffed.



The restaurants and coffee shops are in the main building near the reception-- a bit of a trek from some parts of the hospital. The Park Restaurant is open from 7am to 8pm. It's usually busy at lunchtime and many of the hospital staff seem to eat here, as they pay a reduced rate. There are usually about 5 items on the menu in the afternoon. There is also a salad bar. Next to this shop there is a M&S, WH Smith and Costa Coffee.