BMI The Alexandra Hospital

The whole process went generally well. Timely booking of appointment and check in, friendly and caring staff. One thing to notice though: The management team for BMI card application seemed to have slightly different info from the customer service team. No major issue occurred for my case but it could create a big problem for someone else and cause the delay of the surgery.

I made lots of visits over 6 months both as outpatient and day care and everyone from receptionist, to porter to nursing staff could not have been nicer to me.There was always plenty of free car parking spaces, and tea/coffee facilities making every visit so easy. All of my appointment times were kept to , I never had to wait a long time.

Excellent. No complaints.

I recently attended the BMI Alexandra as a private patient for an outpatient procedure. First impressions; decent parking facilities, the hospital itself appears clean, fresh, and lots of hand sanitiser available with clear prompts to encourage its use. The receptionist promptly checked me in, then before I knew it, I was escorted to my room by a very friendly porter who made me feel welcome, hung my coat and made sure I was comfortable. The nurse soon attended and made sure everything was in order (again, friendly), but then I was left to sit for hours with no updates, food or water. I wish to clarify that I was not due to receive a general anaesthetic, or even a sedative, for the propsed procedure, furthermore, I would have refused such measures in anycase (which I stressed to the nursing team) therefore found being denied sustenance irrational and entirely unnecessary. I was not given any advance warning that I would be fasted, and, annoyingly, I had handed my wallet to my relative for safekeeping thinking I would be in and out in a short while as per previous experience at another hospital, therefore was unable to visit the canteen. This clearly stems from a lack of information prior to my admission, but in all honesty, I did not expect to be formally admitted as a day case for my scheduled procedure. Having had the exact same intervention (lumbar spine epidural injection) at another hospital where I simply went to the xray department, had the injection and was then observed 1:1 by a nurse before being discharged (all in all, under 2hrs) I really did not anticipate being admitted, having an invasive pre-op assessment which was not particularly relevant in many areas and made me feel nervous (e.g. I was not having a GA/sedative and would not need to in any eventuality therefore a great deal of questions were irrelevant), and be fasted without any warning whatsoever. I did complain about the fasting which was met by a patronising talking to by a male nurse, however I was eventually granted a meager glass of water. Had I have been made aware that I would be formally admitted for a procedure such as this then I would have thought again. I absolutely HATED this aspect of my experience if I am honest, and wholeheartedly did not expect to be sitting around in a cell for hours upon end with no food or water until the procedure finally took place. I would not consider receiving the same treatment again at this hospital, but only because of this, which essentially boils down to a massive lack of communication with patients. My Consultant did a great job as did the theatre staff (massive thanks to them) so had I have been better informed (or just informed, even) in the first place about being imprisoned then I suspect my review would be different.

The people I came into contact with at the Alexandre Hospital were courteous and helpful. As well as acting professionally