West Suffolk Hospital

Excellent service, very friendly staff, nothing too much trouble, fantastic advice, have experienced very good treatment here.

I am needle phobic and the staff in the day surgery clinic could not have been any more helpful to me, they really helped to calm me down, all in all its superb at this hospital.

Here’s a sample. Nightime meds dispensed at 6pm. Later on a nurse throws them in the bin. At night time I ask for bedtime meds, “you’ve already been given them. I need my nighttime meds”, “ I can get you a sandwich”, “ no I need meds”, “ you’re hungry?”. PALS don’t seem to have a role nor a mission statement nor are they a complaints gateway, nor can they provide a reference for for our dialogue.

Most helpful and considerate. Hospital was spotless.

We have had lots of contact with the hospital over the last 5 years for various reasons and I can honestly say that there is nothing I would have liked to have been better. In A&E the staff are always caring and fully investigate the problem. In ICU I was so impressed by how calm and caring the staff were, which in turn helped to reassure me. In the Birthing Unit and Labour Suite my experiences were relaxed (well, as much as they could be!) and the F11 staff provided much-needed support for the first couple of days. On F1 the care is also outstanding: staff take time to reassure worried parents and nothing you ask ever seems a burden. F1 Outpatients have been equally reassuring and everyone always greets you with a smile to put you at ease. In short - thank you so much for everything you've done for my family. We really appreciate it!

Very impressed with all aspects of the service. All on time, everything explained.

Treatment successful

Day patient following referral for stomach pain. Treatment appropriate and good.

I found the ward to be very good, the nurses were professional and attentive and caring.

I contacted the 111 service about a sudden loss of vision and was advised to go to this, my local A&E, within an hour. A&E was crowded, and the digital information screen indicated a one hour wait for triage, and a 5 hour wait to see a doctor. I saw a triage nurse after less than an hour who advised me to wait and see the doctor. I saw the doctor after a total wait of 5.5 hours. He immediately said that I should return to the hospital the next morning (n.b. it was already after 4 a.m.) to see an ophthalmologist as A&E wasn’t set up to assess the concerns I had raised. I queried why that advice could not have been given at the triage stage nearly 5 hours earlier and the doctor said that he did not know. He did make a referral, but beyond that offered no assistance or re-assurance. Generally, the experience of waiting in A&E was very poor. There was no communication with people waiting about waiting times, and there was little observable effort to monitor and support people waiting in a dispersed waiting area, including those who were clearly vulnerable. And, to boot, the coffee machine was broken, and the car park charge was more than £12. But my overriding concern was the inadequacy of the triage process.It would be good to see details of how to post feedback to Healthwatch within A&E.