Stoke Mandeville Hospital - Aylesbury

Mario C.

After being rushed to Stoke Mandeville A&E after another hospitals doctor diagnosed my partner with a life threatening ruptured bowel, they were simply put into the A&E waiting room to be 're-triaged' & given an estimated 5hr wait. The supporting paperwork stated in bold *TIME CRITICAL - NEEDS IMMEDIATE IV ANTIBIOTICS, BLOODS & CT SCAN' This was ignored & deemed irrelevant as 'they do their own assessments'. The posters on the walls warning about sepsis and its fatal consequences were pointless. It was only after a concerned nurse overheard a comment that they were likely to die in a hospital waiting room that she sought advice, but it still took an hour for bloods to be taken, a further hour to start an IV, another 3 for the CT and an extra 45 mins for the results. It took 6hrs for the A&E doctor to finally get the surgical team to get us admitted to the ICU - 6hrs that could easily cost someone their life unnecessarily.

Unbelievably, in the further 40 minute wait to be taken up, we were told that they now had no bed, but would be put into the 'Surgical Assessment Ward 15' until a bed could be found.

WE WERE BOTH LEFT THERE FOR 3 DAYS ON A CHAIR!!

This 'Ward' is nothing of the sort. It is simply a seated waiting room, and it had 18 people in it, many of whom were on drips and in pain! The nursing staff were exceptional but patients have no means to lie down, sleep, wash or even have some privacy. It wasn't until the 4th night that a bed was found for my partner. Many of the other patients confirmed that they'd also been left here for days on end, with many of the treating staff being completely oblivious to this reality.

No planned system of providing food was also evident, with many patients never being asked on some days if they'd eaten. The excuse? - this ward wasn't expected to have any 'regular' patients that needed food! Is this really what patients are expected to endure in the 21st century? If you cant even get the basics right god help us.

Also, the amount of time that was wasted via multiple duplicate triaging. Do you like staff wasting already limited time repeating themselves and tests? Plus why is this hospital one of the few in the country who still use manual records? This one simple step to digital records would save you millions of staff hours and allow then to access patient records and referrals from other hospitals, rather than having to redo everything again.

Blood tests shouldn't take take 3hrs (and why hasn't the hospitals broken 'pod' transport system been fixed when it has been down for some time). Surely simple fixes to things like this would stop wasting stretched staffs' time or waiting for results.

Even having a single nominated member of staff to ASK patients if they've been fed could save so much misery.

When you consider that some of the chairs within ward 15 were apparently expensive electric recliners, not 1 worked and were ripped or just left in a state of disrepair. The toilets are a disgrace and in need of a massive upgrade & the place is at serious risk of cross infection.

In 4 days, not once did I see a single chair being cleaned after it was vacated by a sick patient - as there was always someone waiting to take it.

If it wasn't for the efforts of overburdened but well intentioned staff I fear our outcome would have disastrous. No amounts of platitudes will suffice. Management need to get their act together urgently before someone dies (if not already).

J K.

I’m registered here for my specialist, but can’t give me a bed but complain when I go to another hospital, They are so nice and sympathetic to your face. Long story short, they are rude, they say they don’t have the staff so you have to self medic, not the first time these issues have happened. They told me no beds available.sitting up causing me more pain then told I had a bed 10hrs later. Went to the ward and they said no bed, sit on the chair,even the nurse rang prior and said he needs a bed and they we prepping it. In total I waited 20hrs to get a bed and another 6 hrs I spent in between to go home to bed only to get worse and to return back to hospital. Went to Slough and they have so much in order. Aylesbury I have to remind them to give me pain releaf or check blood pressure otherwise they don’t come round.

Chinel

I am giving SMH Early Pregnancy Unit 1 star, and that is solely due to the receptionist who works there. She is rude, condescending, and completely lacks empathy, traits that are utterly unacceptable in a setting where people are often vulnerable and in need of support.

In contrast, the midwives I’ve encountered have been absolutely lovely, compassionate, and professional. However, the receptionist’s poor attitude and lack of basic customer service skills overshadow the otherwise positive aspects of the unit.

She urgently needs proper training, as her behaviour does not align with the standard of care one would expect in such a sensitive environment. This happened today, the 27th of January 2025.

MAJ H.

I have visited the main building, ED and Eye clinic.

Plenty of car park spaces in each of the buildings and wards.

The staff at the hospital are very friendly, polite and very nice.

The ED is very busy and there are long waiting times.

The Emergency Department needs extra staff, extra resources and a much bigger ward.

The ED is struggling all the time with long queues.

I am a High Wycombe patient as High Wycombe Hospital has no Emergency Department I have to always come to Stoke Mandeville and add extra pressure to their hospital long queues.

I hope the trust can help look at bringing back ED to High Wycombe.

Staff are lovely but to many patients and not enough beds or resources.

Shane

Got referred to the Surgical assessment team, was in surgery within 24 hours. Staff were all great in making sure I understood what was going on and was looked after. Only downside was the lack of parking

Neil S.

I visited Stoke Mandeville for my upcoming orthopaedic and trauma appointment due in January 2024
My immediate referral for steriod/ surgery would be approx in 10 months to 1 year I was informed
I luckily received a phone call on Dec 23 and really pleased me that I would get an appointment on Jan 24 to the orthopaedic/ trauma department
I received various phone calls before I received a letter dated in the first week in January 2024
I always park my car in a residential area and walk up
I always receive a warm welcome from reception staff, either guiding me to my department or I use the signposts to guide me
Once at the orthopaedic/trauma dept ,I was booked in my a HCA and had to wait 20 mins for my appointment due to the number of patients on this day
Mr Ioannis Aktselis was very helpful and professional ,guiding me through my next phrase and treatment stage, giving me more in-depth knowledge of where my foot status is at with the view to injections 💉 and more complications to surgery in the future.
I had a further 4 more X-rays, and Mr Aktsellis would arrange for a CT scan to show more precise images as the previous X-ray didn't show what was required.
On my 2nd appointment to the orthopaedic/trauma department, Mr Aktselis gave me far more information about the x-ray images and the next steps to my injections 💉 plus I received further conclusions to my diagnosis of my foot condition. I explained to Mr Aktselis my pain management and regular acupuncture I have undertaken to improve my daily life as my pain zaps my energy , Thank you for your support at Stoke Mandeville Hospital 🙏
I enjoyed a keto friendly snack at the colourful cafe

Prerna K.

Very poor management. The team of nurses are getting paid for gossiping. Children’s ward is the worse department. There are 10-12 nurses in the department but non of them are doing anything except Charing away with each other.

Flavius O.

I had a bad experience with NHS service in Stoke Mandeville Hospital. I have been referred from High Wycombe Hospital with my son, being suspended for Apendicita, from High Wycombe we been told, we should not wait long time in Stoke Mandeville being an emergency. We arrived at the pediatric emergency department where we spend 20 hours. In all this time my son is been seen 3 times by different medical staff. Every time a had to tell them the same story, and they don't do anything, I had the feeling is no communication between them, and lack of care. In all this time I have seen other patients coming and living the hospital without a doctor to see them after 4, 5 hours. People just lost their patience and decided to go home. Anyway, I had to wait 6 hours for a scan and the results. After all this time, all 20 hours, I have asked for a discharge letter to provide at work as a prove I have been at the hospital with my son, they didn't give it to me, they said I can get it from my GP. After 2 weeks the report is incomplete, and every time when I ask for a complete letter, the answer is, ( We can not do anything, what is done is done ).