I had surgery today at West Middlesex University Hospital in Isleworth, London, UK. This is an NHS hospital and for American readers, let me disclose that it is not a "University Hospital" in any sense we know of in the USA.
The hospital has fairly murky Victorian roots; it was opened in 1894 as the Brentford Workhouse Infirmary (shades of Charles Dickens!), but was partly refurbished/partly new rebuild about 10 years ago. While the current hospital now looks reasonably modern if hideously ugly at a glance, many departments and facilities remain shambolicly designed and run with a laundry list of serious issues. I remain convinced that the entire facility was designed by an airport architect specializing in making access between any 2 locations as distant and difficult to transit as possible; even the disabled parking was placed at a significant distance from the main entrance and at the bottom of a steep incline. Paid parking, of course.
Many of the "Consultants", "Registrars", and registered nurses are excellent, caring, dedicated physicians, surgeons, and speciality nurses. But they are a small drop in a large bucket. The Admin staff is almost unfailingly Kafkaesque in their arrogant, condescending, mean-spirited work practices, often startlingly ignorant and contemptuous of the professional staff, dismissive of patients.
I'll shortly add a post mortem review of serious issues observed at WMUH and a Lessons Learned guide which is probably applicable to any contact with a NHS hospital.
