Chelsea & Westminster Healthcare N H S Trust

I’ve been here for maternity needs and also for Emergency finger cut fun. The A&E was an incredible display of mad people which kept me entertained for the 3 hours I had to wait until i had my finger properly looked at. With a lot less blood in my body the time just flew past.
As far as the maternity unit goes, its pretty good. But then again, I don’t have much to compare it to. The woman who drew my blood did it so quickly I could’ve sworn she was an ex-​junkie. I didn’t even notice the pin prick.
I’ll update once baby is out with a full edit.

Well as hospitals go, this is a modern hospital. Can clearly see that it has had a refurbishment. I have just started attending here and so far seem to be doing well considering how much NHS resources are being stretched.
Trying to find the right ward/​department can be challenging as it is so confusing due to the number of various lifts and escalators there are.
There is not much waiting time as you can get seen practically within 5 minutes of your appointment time or earlier. Was quite happy with that, as didn’t wait around for long, even though they do have free wifi in the outpatient clinics, which if waiting around for a long time can be helpful to watch netflix.
Will be back soon so will be interesting to see if this is how it is always run or if this time was an exception.

A first class hospital. I cannot commend this hospital enough. I recently underwent some eye surgery in the treatment centre and was struck by the excellent efficient service, the informative and helpful doctors and staff who were incredibly kind from start to finish. Even the teal lady was wonderful! I can only say positive remarks. It has restored my faith in the NHS for sure.

So a trip to the Doctor is never fun… well… depends on what your idea of fun is i guess… (little shop of horrors, anyone?). These guys, however make the experience as painless (well… mentally?) as possible.
always easy to make an appointment, wait times not all freaking day, friendly staff who are efficient and good at what they do.
yeah, its a bit of a mission to get out there, but its a nice enough part of town and they are always willing to hear what i actually think and have to say without making me feel rushed and silly.
thanks guys!

I’ve had the misfortune of havibg to attend hospital every other month, sometimes here and sometimes at St Mary’s in Paddington.
I look forward to C&W as its bright and breezy and has a decent selection of refreshment stops e.g. carluccios across the road where i often buy a tasty cake to cheer myself up!
If you need to have blood tests, go on a thursday, dont know why but thursday is always a quiet day.

I have just been in for a gastric by=pass on the NHS at Chealsea and Westminster. I really can not find fault with them. They do not stop cleaning, everything was spotless. Staff are A1. Nothing was too much trouble for the nursing staff. (and i guess they have some really grotty things to do). I was on the Rainsford Molan ward.
I was on the waiting list a rather long time, which was my only small gripe.
The follow up care is good too. If i had gone private, there would be no aftercare, well, not unless your waving your credit card at them.

I had an op here a year ago and have been undergoing regular check-​ups since. I find it quite disorganised and confusing. For example I went in for an ultrasound recently and the girl doing it was new, and told me that there was something strange on the scan but because she is not a doctor she needed to get a second opinion. She said i should call back that afternoon but she could not give me a number to do so. I called the reception staff of the dept as that is the only numnber available on the internet, for pretty much a week everyday with absolutely no joy — the whole thing was slightly humiliating and distressing — at firs tthey did not understand what i was going on about and then i had to explain my whole medical history to them and they still could not work it out. All that needed to be done was for a dr to look at the scan and write on my notes, which are accessible to most of the staff on the computers. So weird that they cannot just get a doctor or nurse to give me a call and let me know? Also the attitude of all the staff, especially the reception staff, is so RUDE! I am moving to america for a year’s placement and to be honest I am quite relieved as cynical as this sounds i think the treatment and attitudes will be better because it is a paid for service, not that i agree with that, but the nhs is seriously lacking in the manners department! The reception staff they hire (including at my GPs office in Brook Green, hammersmith) are always so incredibly rude and unhelpful — and all they do is sit behind a desk 9 to 4:30, witha 1 hour lunch break. I work 12 h /​day and I can still manage to be nice to people. when you have a worrying condition it is awful to be treated like that when you are already feeling vulnerable, and i often feel that they do not deserve all the credit they get for being one of the only national health systems in the world… GRR!

My Swedish mother-​in-​law, Elsa 82 years, stayed at Chelsea& Westminster Hospital three days in April 2009 after damaging her leg in an escalator. This hospital was a very positive and great experience to her. The personnel was very friendly and helpful, and because she could only some words in English, I was allowed to stay with her as much as was needed.
We have absolutely nothing to complain, and when comparing hospitals in Finland and Sweden, with this English one, The Chelsea & Westminster Hospital is one of the best we have stayed. To get sick abroad can be a very scary option, and maybe some older persons prefer not to travel at all because they are worried about hospitals. This experience encourages us to continue travelling to London and to United Kingdom, even on elder days.
Thank you very much, all the personnnel at
Ward RAINSFORD MOWLEM !
Elsa from Sweden

My mother was recently admitted to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and stayed there for 4 weeks on their David Erskine Ward. Although I found the nursing staff fairly friendly and helpful, my mother did not find them all the same and indeed there were some she found less than helpful and wanting in some respects.
She was unable to get far from her bed and needing essentials like someone to take her to the toilet left her feeling very distressed. On many occasions it took an inordinately long time for a nurse to answer the call and hence it was too late. This caused my mother a lot of distress and she felt very undignified.
The medical team did undertake a battery of tests on her and provided the results quickly, with the exception of a CT scan which had to be reported by a team at Hammersmith Hospital. This took almost a week to get results.
As for the large variety of lifts in banks from A-​D, well although this sounds like a lot, you can only get certain lifts to the wards you want to visit. For example, if you are visiting someone in bank D lifts, there are 2 and invariably you would wait 5 – 10 minutes for the lift. At weekends, forget about it — out of the 5 lifts in banks C and D last weekend, only one was working. Apparently this is regular practice at the weekend. I went to use the stairs, but bizarrely, you cannot use the stairs because they are locked, yes, locked, for staff use only. Where is the health and safety in this?
There is parking available underneath and I don’t know how this compares to regular parking charges in Chelsea. I was paying £12.50 for around 4 hours and don’t forget that the hospital is within the congestion charging zone. When Chelsea FC are playing at home, the hospital provides parking for its supporters.
There is a Costa coffee in the hospital and it does have its own restaurant, but for some strange reason, it was absolutely freezing and not only were the customers wearing their coats, but the staff serving were too! There is a Starbucks outside and a little shop called Snax which does some pretty good baguettes and paninis. Tesco Express is just across the road if you need some essentials.

im reallly sorry to hear that but as a nhs worker all the hospitals are the same you have to be in control now and search for your own treatment if you dont you basically die. but chelwest is better than many hospitals friendliness traditional nursing and helping you to get better. try central mid and you prob wont come out alive. i also know and ujnderstand from a patient perspective.

The Chelsea Westminster caused quite a furore prior to its opening, for several reasons: partly because it replaced the well-​loved ‘institution’ that was St Stephen’s Hospital, partly due to its exorbitant building costs and the fact that it was on such a large scale.
Aesthetically, it looks to be an impressive modern hospital; in order to give it a less clinical feel there are diverse and changing displays of artwork on the walls. For access to your required floor, there’s a decent choice between stairs, escalators and lifts. As it is of considerable size, it can be quite confusing to locate the direction you need to follow, although there is quite likely to be someone around whom you can ask for guidance.
I had some tests carried out here, early in 2008. Five months on I was still persevering to get the results. Not because they were routine and insignificant. In spite of the fact that they required action and had been languishing in a file, with the relevant Consultant’s department, it wasn’t seen fit to inform me or my GP.
Although I’m well aware that the NHS can be rather a lottery, I would have thought that resources are too precious to carry out tests for nothing (and not to follow through). I strongly recommend that if you are referred here, you do all you can to inform yourself and maintain strength and tenacity relating to your treatment and results.