just wanted to say what a shocking place
went today to see a consultant as ive torn my ACL and medial meniscus. appointment was at 9:30.....so arrive nice and early, park up and go to the outpatients ward. 6 women behind a desk in what is like an airport terminal. 'oh you dont check-in here, use the self check-in computer'......so use that, get given a ticket with a number on......to which we sat for hour and 15 mins till it got called out. 'go to red zone'....RED ZONE!!..wtf is this place, Argos mixed with kryptom factor.
Sit in red zone for another 45 mins. 'excuse me, but how long we gonna be waiting?'.....nurse didnt even know the time, she thought it was only twenty to ten. ''ooh is that the time, cor dear'...YES COR DEAR, i been sitting here for what seems like a week!!!...apprently they have a new system but ''its sooo slow' (the consultant himself said that)...whos idea was it to go with this system then!!! even then they didnt have my results from my MRI cos its at a holding centre. glad i went for that then.
looking around the place, i reckon 80% of the patients were over 60. They want a friendly face when they arent well, but instead they have to use technology which most older people despise. then they are actually made into a number, only to be made to wait over hours. is that a way to treat people, surely hospitals should be no1. for people service.
So if you ever get a referral from your doctor make sure its not at Darenth Valley.
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Trev has caught up with you this morning I reckon.
Both kids born there - no problems, friendly staff, clean and well organised place
been in A/E there on a few occasions. Again seen promptly, issue dealt with with compassion and common sense
Father-in-law there after a heart attack, again treated very well nothing but good things to say about the place.
Various family had appointments with consultants there and never been more than 10-15 minutes later than booked time.
I will report back on Thursday as son has an appointment there then.
Straight to the lady on reception - she gave me a ticket and sent me off to another ward. Where I sat for about 40 mins and a phone rang constantly.
Eventually I was called in to see a lady in a wheelchair who was deaf - she was the triage nurse who had to "check me in" and see what was up with me.
Another half hour passed and I was seen by a very helpful (overly enthusiastic actually) lady who referred me for xrays. I was just about able to walk but they forced me to sit in a wheelchair - sadly I was on my own so had to wait for a porter to cart me off to the xray dept.
Got checked - carted back to original ward and sent home with a presecrition as long as your arm
All in all it was not exactly the clearest procedure and was rather confusing to me but I was reasonably happy with the turnaround times
I'd have to say its one of the better hospitals around - built 10 ys ago and so relatively new .............should try the Kent & Sussex (T/wells) if you want old & crumbling !!
more Social services / admin/managers staff numbers than nurses ...........
More a moan about the way patients are treated by the people that run the place. the staff i saw, although unable to tell the time, were friendly enough but even they said the system there is poor. The people in charge are the ones that aint got a clue.
A&E people expect to wait, but i was an outpatient and had this appointment for over a month. why did they give me a specific time when i wasnt seen for over 2 hours after?!
Basically the NHS as we remember it has gone, everything is rationed now and unless you kick up you get minimal cheapest treatment...... I could go on!
Sorry about that, nothing to do with Darenth but everything to do with the NHS
2 of my 3 grandkids born there without any problems, daughter's appendicitis diagnosed & dealt with swiftly & efficiently, granddaughter's emergency asthma related admissions also have given no cause for concern/complaint and 90+ parents in law admitted quickly when necessary.
I'm guessing that DV is no worse, or maybe better than others but am grateful that it is close by with good public transport links and has an A & E Dept .
My missus is a teacher and had to wait over a week to get an appointment at the Dentist at a time when she could actually leave school to get her toothache dealt with (nurofen did well out of us!) - ironically she couldn't get an appointment after 4pm all week, as I quote "those slots are booked for kids to have check ups!!"
Don't even get me started on the cost of summer hols when you are married to a teacher. And before any parents start to retort, it's a hell of a lot easier to take a child out of a class of 30 for a week than it is for the teacher to clear off on hols!!
Don't know where you live, but most areas have a walk-in-clinic. You walk in, without the need for an appointment and are seen normally within the hour.
The ones I have delt with at work are very good and keen too
If you are an outpatient at any hospital you are going to wait for a while. Cutbacks and a huge amount of patients are crippling the NHS.
Think yourself lucky.
All Trevor can do now is wait. Wait for sleep so his pain eases slightly.
as they say, "come into the hospital in a metal box, leave in a wooden one"
There is the article....