
Overall, Spire Elland was great and I would happily return should I require any further procedures in the future.
The rooms are spacious and comfortable, and everything is very clean. I think the main thing letting the hospital down is patient communication. All appointments and comms are recorded and delivered via an app. If you don't want to or aren't able to download the app (like me), you do end up being left a little in the dark about things.
For example, I had been given a surgery date fairly soon after my initial consultation, which was great, however I hadn't been informed that there would be multiple pre-operative assessment appointments to attend - all of which were on-site at Spire Elland, which is around an hour's drive for us.
On one occasion, I had to make last-minute arrangements to move clients around as I'd been unaware of an upcoming appointment - I'd received no email, no text, no phone call, no letter. I just so happened to log in to my online portal and find the appointment date there. I moved clients around so I could attend, and just a couple of days before my appointment received a text message to say the date had changed, with no explanation provided. I called to try and find out why this might be, but was met with a dismissive reply of, "We just had to move it".
All of the documents outlining the process for my surgery and the prep I should do beforehand were provided online, and the online portal isn't the simplest to navigate, so accessing them wasn't as easy as it could have been.
When I was admitted for my day surgery, the staff were very welcoming and friendly, although I did find that I received a blunt reply whenever I asked a question about anything. This was my first ever surgery and my first time being put under general anaesthetic, so naturally I was quite nervous. Some of the members of staff were very helpful and supportive, but others seemed to have little patience, which wasn't ideal and only served to make me more anxious.
When I came to after the surgery, I had been expecting to have a bit of a handover with someone so I could at least find out how it had gone and what they had/hadn't found. Unfortunately, Mr Gan was occupied in another surgery, and so I was discharged before having the chance to speak to him. I asked the nurses for some clarification - any brief notes or insights they might be able to give to put my mind at ease a bit until I could speak with Mr Gan - but this was met with quite curt replies. I was told no one could read Mr Gan's handwriting so no one could tell me any information, which at the time was quite frustrating as I'd been dealing with the pain for so long and had viewed the laparoscopy as the light at the end of the tunnel. It was disheartening to leave the hospital without any real clarification of the issue.
Now having had my final follow-up with Mr Gan, I can say with confidence that all of my questions have been answered, and I feel validated and supported as a patient. However, I can't help but feel that had the communication from the hospital team been a little better throughout the process, it wouldn't have been so frustrating to wake up after the surgery and find that no one could tell me how it had gone.