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Written by a carer
14th May 2016


Our 11 week baby had an operation as a day case on level 7. The building and facilities are lovely and really focused on making it nice for children. Our room was spacious, en-suite and with a view of the sea. We especially like that children get to ride in an little electric car or quad bike along the corridors to their operation - they clearly love it and it helps make their op a positive experience :) All the staff were very friendly and caring and we felt relaxed and made to feel welcome and free to walk about and do whatever we needed. Not just the nurses and surgeons etc but even cleaning and other staff would give us a smile when passing. The operation was explained and we were told what to expect when we took him for the anaesthetic, and how long he would be away from us etc. The staff understand parents will find it stressful and upsetting and dont rush you, plus our nurse went and checked progress for us so we would know whether he would be coming out of the op soon. The only thing that could be improved would be on information about when the baby can have his last feed. We had to feed no later than 4.30am as the op was anticipated to be 8.30, but in fact a younger baby with more medical needs had to go first so we had to wait another 3 hours - and obviously 7+ hours without a feed is going to make any baby pretty unhappy... If its an emergency that comes up that morning which causes the delay then of course there is nothing anyone can do. However if the list of operations could be reviewed the day before so that anyone with a baby/ very young child who was not going to be first could be phoned and told a later time for the last feed that would make a big difference, not only to that family but also the staff and everyone on the floor who have to listen to the screaming baby :) However even though our extra wait was difficult the staff were great, keeping us informed, making helpful but tactful suggestions, and letting us do whatever we thought would help. Its the second time weve used RACH and we definitely recommend it. Please tell the staff they are doing a great job :)

Recommend
Dignity/Respect
Involvement
Information
Cleanliness
Staff