"Hospital porters and bed waiting times"

Went to Urology Dept at the Queen Elizabeth for a kidney infection following stone removal. Long story, but to get to main points: waited 7 hours for a bed. So, the first bit is to do with getting to the ward, a very nice volunteer got me a wheelchair and took me to Urology, so why can’t they take you up to the ward? An 80-year-old man who also waited all day was told 90 mins for a porter? A lovely nurse took me up herself, as the wait for me was an hour. Volunteers are there, and plenty of them.

Second bit is the discharge process. It was a weekend, so I expected a delay, but I was told I was going home at 10 a.m. But I wasn't out until 5.30, due to the wait with the discharge letter and prescription. There were about 9 of us on that section waiting to go home, 9 beds that could have been allocated to other patients. Imagine that multiplied all over the hospital.

Now, I know why people have to wait so long, this had nothing to do with the elderly who can’t get home. I was told it's the same every weekend, not so bad during the week, you usually get out by 3. Still, a long delay. This could make a huge difference to the ambulance waiting times.

It’s just really scary that something that to me sounds easy to fix isn’t done, maybe a doctor on a few hours overtime at weekends to make sure discharges are completed by 1 p.m. The knock-on effect is huge. The staff themselves in the hospital were absolutely fantastic at all times.