Whipps Cross University Hospital

As with any organisation or business, a hospital is only as good as its individual staff. Over a period of a few days I made several visits to see consultants, surgical admissions, outpatients services etc. culminating in surgery and experienced the whole range from extremely professional and caring, to lazy and downright incompetent. The problem is too many staff are involved in every aspect of care so that one person assumes someone else has already dealt with the issue. At one point, a bad-​tempered nurse flung my curtains aside and told me to prepare for the adjacent patient’s knee operation. (In practice this can’t actually happen because other staff are constantly checking name and date of birth). My own way of dealing with the situation was to ask lots of questions of my own and to challenge everything that was said, which didn’t make me very popular with staff but did mean I got the best care available on the day.
I was really disappointed with the lack of information following my operation as they just send round junior doctors who were not actually in the operating theatre with you, but my GP is on the case and will eventually find out whether the operation was a complete success (I feel pretty certain it was). A lovely student nurse looked after me at the end of the day and brought me loads of hot drinks when I was absolutely gasping.

Arrived at night to find the walk in centre very busy. My sister was seen straight away and was then directed to xray very speedy by very efficient staff. Many thanks to all.

A fairly good hospital although some staff were excedingly slow. Still quite good service overall.

Nobody likes going to the hospital but if we get sick we want to know that we are in good hands. The NHS tends to get negative press, whilst good news rarely gets reported. Having worked within the Stroke unit therapy team I got to see first hand how things are done.
The stroke wards were obsessively cleaned and all staff were trained and drilled as to how to clean their hands and minimize cross infection. The wards were well stocked with equipment and provisions to provide the best possible service to patients. The strictest measures were in place to ensure that only trained staff members administered the correct treatments. Training on current and newly discovered techniques were on going and very regular. Every measure was taken to make patient recovery as smooth and pain-​free as possible.
Like most NHS hospitals, some positions were understaffed. Even so, I rarely if ever saw standards slip.
In a constant battle against death and disease, the staff within the stroke unit seemed to truly care for the well being of their patients.
Going to hospital will always be an enforced, reluctant choice. In the unwanted case of a stroke, know you are in caring and well-​trained hands at the stroke unit at Whipps Cross hospital.

A large general teaching hospital close to M11/​A406.
Built originally by the West Ham Union as it workhouse infirmary, it was expanded after WW1. Now it is a hotchpotch of 20^th century and 21^st century redevelopment.
The A&E department is notorious for its long waiting times, as is the Outpatient Department, which has a tiny car park for Blue Badge users. Other car parks are spread around the site and are expensive for long visits.
There are various shops around the hospital selling the general fare of magazines, sweets and squash, and a canteen, (not tried it myself).
The hospital has a high incident rate of MRSA and therefore is strict on infection control. Patients are discouraged from having fruit, flowers, cards etc at their bedside.
The hospital has a decent free radio service, but have those hideously expensive TV/​Phones over each bed which eat money.
The hospital grounds are reputedly haunted by a nurse who drowned in a swimming pool, now filled in and used as a car park (The pool, not the ghost!)