Heartlands Hospital

My experience of the dermatology department at Heartlands Hospital was initially good. I was urgently referred and seen quickly, and told that I would need a biopsy. I was told that I would be seen within 4 to 6 weeks but I have now been waiting over 4 months. I have chased the hospital directly and my GP has also chased them too without success.

My consultant at Heartlands Hospital is very good. I am seen by the brain injury team. Things are finally being done now that I am in the system and under their care.

I attended Heartlands Hospital for full bloods to be taken and they arranged a follow up appointment for me at Solihull Hospital's haematology department for the following week. I was satisfied with the service received and very pleased that they were able to book the follow on appointment for me there and then.

I was admitted to ward 10 and spent 8 days there. The staff were lovely and took very good care of me.

I attended A&E at Heartlands Hospital and was quickly sent to SAU where I had an ultrasound. I was then told to come back to SAU the following day. I attended the next day to be told that there was a 4 to 6 hour wait to be seen. I waited 3 hours to be told that the ultrasound I'd had done the day before was all clear and that I could go. Living in Solihull it is very difficult to get to Heartlands Hospital by public transport. It cost me over £60 to attend the hospital over two days. The waiting times are long and a simple telephone call could have told me that the ultrasound was all clear.

The new antenatal department at Heartlands Hospital is bright and clean and has air con which has been great. The sonographers, midwives and my consultant have all been lovely. The consultant communicate well and talked through all my birth option clearly helping me make an informed decision.

I had to attend growth scans at Heartlands Hospital's maternity department every two weeks as well as attend consultant appointments. The scans were done in the new part of the main hospital and I had to go to the Princess of Wales Department to see my consultant. It was great that these appointments were on the same day but more consideration needed to be given to the times of the appointments. They were often 30 minutes apart and I would need to rush from one side of the hospital to the other, whilst heavily pregnant and also hope that the scan department were running on time. This made visits and appointments very stressful.

I am very disappointed that during my pregnancy I have felt immense pressure from my consultant to have an elective C-section because my first child was born via an emergency C-section. I have been pressured during consultations with them and they have even telephoned me on a few occasions to confirm that I do not want a C-section. At one appointment the consultant pointed out my age (mid 30s) and stated that they could sterilise me during the C-section. I was completely speechless! I felt like they were trying to pressure me into agreeing with them despite me making myself very clear during my pregnancy that I did not want an elective C-section. They need to listen to their patients and not make assumptions about them.

My labour experience at Heartlands Hospital was fantastic. The aftercare on the maternity ward was awful and I was just left to it despite having a c-section. I was discharged after 24 hours and felt that this was too soon. There needs to be more support.

I was seen very quickly in SAU at Heartlands Hospital. The nurses and doctors were friendly and I was happy with the care I received.