West Suffolk Hospital

The department I'm with do offer good support by phone but actual appointments are constantly cancelled, I haven't seen my consultant for nearly 2 years. There are times when you do need to show the consultant things for them to get a true picture.

The experience of having our Covid vaccinations at the hospital went really smoothly and the system in place worked really well, being quick and efficient.

The delivery was perfect and the staff were amazing however when I was moved on to Ward 11 after the birth one member of staff on the night shift really wasn't nice. I know I had my buzzer but following a c section I wasn't checked for quite some time and it would've been nice if someone had checked I was doing ok and I was coping with my baby. The way the member of staff spoke to me was really not nice. It took 5 hours to get breastfeeding support and by that stage I was so worried my baby needed feeding that I started with some formula. I then saw the same member of staff after I had been discharged when I was having a dressing changed and again she was rude and abrupt. When I asked if a specific tape for the dressing could be used, she basically said she would use what she wanted, I was really shocked by this and even another member of staff made a comment when she left the room. After such a positive birth experience this one person really did change the whole experience.

Had great continuity of care and a brilliant experience throughout my labour. My midwife stayed with me even though it was handover time, she was just joined by the next midwife until my son had been born which was lovely.

Cancer treatment has continued throughout covid. My partner needs reassurance and although I can't go in with him for the treatment I can wait in the unit for him which has been great.

I recently had a fall and had xrays of my elbow and knee and were told everything was fine and that I could go home with a crutch. 6 days later I received a call to say my elbow was fractured and that it needed to be in a sling. The discharge note were incredibly brief and the fracture or possibility wasn't even mentioned and there was limited information about what to do with all the stitches I'd received.

After being referred by my GP to the hospital consultant for a hip replacement my appointment at the moment is likely to be in February after being referred early this summer. The pain medication I take doesn't help and I'm struggling to get around. My cataracts were done at a private hospital by the NHS, is this being done with hips?

I can understand the current situation but after having my leg amputated I've had regular 6 monthly scans to check everything is ok and there is nothing to be concerned about but I've now missed 2 scans. I've had to ask my GP to chase this for me but it is concerning that it's not being checked.

Due to mixed communication I ended up staying in hospital longer than needed. The surgeon was good and was available after for advice when things didn't go to plan, so I was happy with the support provided and the care given by the nurses.

A real lack of joined up thinking and working when mum was discharged meant that care was not arranged for when she came home and if it wasn't for our great surgery staff it would've been so much worse. Really mum should not have been discharged and communication really failed. Someone needs to have an overview of the patient so mistakes like this do not happen.