Gloucestershire Royal Hospital

Okay helpful staff

I had major lower back surgery under Mr Rathnam Sundaram and was moved to ward 3. As i was unable to eat the food i was offered,my choice as the food did not appeal,i lost three kilo in the three day stay.The catering staff knew i had not eaten but i was never offered an alternative,even a sandwich would have been nice. During the second evening and night i developed hiccups so to save disturbing the ward i sat in the corridor all night but although there were nurses in the area no one came near me.At 05.30 a nurse can on duty who suggested i try drinking a cup of hot water which worked, Please take these comments as constructive criticism.

Having driven 40 miles at 02:00 to Gloucester as no ambulances were available, I presented with a severe painful foot and leg. No GP was available for six hours and A&E were too busy to see me. "Triage" nurse did minimal exam, said try tomorrow. That morning drove 2 1/2 hours to where I live, presented myself to Portsmouth A&E, and was admitted within 30 minutes, surgery scheduled a week later.

The staff were amazing, and very supportive during a difficult time. However, I was unimpressed by the domestics having a break in the parents room on the ward- the parents room should be somewhere parents can escape for a few minutes for a cup of tea, I don't want to listen to bitching about staff members, or motivational YouTube videos. We were also sometimes not told relevent information about our child's health until a couple of shift changes after test results etc. had come back. It seemed like we were just being forgotten.

All members of staff who cared our child, Ewan were wonderful. Professionally they were Second to none however, I honesty believe that they went beyond what is expected. Everyone was very supportive and could not have been more helpful. At times during the night, my wife was given a break as members of the nursing team looked after Ewan so my wife could get some rest. On one occasion, we were both given some restbite for an hour which really helped having spent several days on the unit. Please pass on out thanks to all members of the team.