"Excellent patient centred care"

My special needs stepdaughter had a procedure to have an IUD fitted today by Mr Poku. The care she has received throughout has been exceptional. Maggie Deakin her pre op nurse did an amazing job with the operative plan. She really listened and made sure the care my daughter received took full account of her severe learning difficulties and autistic tendencies. On the day itself Mr Poku and his registrar (sorry I don't remember her name) and the nurses on TAU Jane and Beth were lovely.

The only negative I would like to express is the complete inadequacy of the infrastructure for disabled people. On arrival I had to drive around for 20 minutes to get a parking space. The disabled car park was full as was the main car park. When I eventually manufactured my own parking space in front of the yellow bollards by the give way sign, I was flagged down by an elderly lady who was also trying to park. She told me she can't walk, visits the hospital every few weeks and always finds it impossible to park. The new drop off area may help patient throughout but it's reduced the number of disabled spaces and nothing has been put in place to replace them. From talking to staff members, I have discovered that there used to be a bus service ferrying disabled people to and from their homes but this has now been withdrawn.

The administrators of these changes seem to be completely out of touch with what's happening on the shop floor and leave people to struggle against even more odds than usual. As any disabled person or carer will tell you, it's hard enough being disabled without the system making life even harder for us all.