Whipps Cross University Hospital

The ambulance crew were really nice but the wait in a&e was a bit long - I wasn’t one of the most urgent cases but would have appreciated someone coming in to tell me ballpark how long I’d have to wait

Ambulance crew , nurses and medical staff in ED department provided great care; but long wait for my father to be warded and for ongoing care and intervention. Not enough staff for patient demand and to update patient’s relatives. Not the best use of ED space to have an 82 year old waiting to be placed somewhere appropriate to his needs and delay in receiving appropriate medication.

excellent service

My husband has to attend Whipps Cross frequently. My major complaint is about their internal and external communications. Duplicate letters about appointments are commonplace. The latest example was 3 letters in one postal delivery about an appointment: 2 the same and a 3rd changing the time. And in actual fact the appointment turned out to be set for hours earlier than either time (which I found out almost by accident). The department concerned looked at the 3 letters and impatiently said "they are all wrong", then "I don't know who is sending out these letters". (Father Christmas maybe....?) This is an extreme example of how departments don't seem to talk to each other (let alone the patients) but it's not an isolated one.

When I visited the computers had broke down. I know things go ring but there seemed no backup plan to enter patients manually, just scraps of paper,no order to what was happening and the staff were moving around a lot but not really achieving anything. This is not a criticism of the staff but of the hospital procedure. From admittance at 10:30 at night by ambulance I did not see a doctor until 5:30 in the morning which I think is unacceptable.