“This Hospital was rated the worst and the most unfriendly in a recent Bmj poll. Avoid at all costs!”

“David L - good point”

“The shortage of doctors will continue until the effects of the disastrous MMC/MTAS fiasco of last year is finally recognised by the mindless idiots who perpetrated it. Its main long term effect - the destruction of sensible training of junior doctors is the cause of the shortages.

After 7 -12 years qualifying and working as a junior, they need to develop their careers and this needs the training posts in sufficient numbers. Without them, only service posts, essentially a full stop to career progression, are available - now as we see available in quantity. Without the required training posts, what do the junior doctors do? Go overseas of course, where their experience is valued and training made available!

They will continue to do this, to the benefit of Australasia, and at our cost, until the Dept of Health removes the idiots who caused the problem and corrects the problem using managers with a bit more commonsense!”

“I am sorry but it all stems from central government and the quick fix ill thought out approach, Policing on the cheap with PCSO¿s some good people but if we need more Police Officer recruit young men and women to become Police Officers with their powers. If we need more Doctors please at least recruit ones with a very good command of the English language the ramification can be so dire in situations like this, the same also applies for nurses, I don¿t personally care where they come from as I am a firm believer in free markets and if people want to work here, can do the job, speak the language and pay taxes come on down, but please get the basics right. There certainly appear to be management issues at Derriford from the simple issues of not being able to enforce smoking bans, through to dirty wards and shortages of staff or should we say the right staff and contract cleaners.
Look at the differences between Derriford and Nuffield, now in reality there are clearly Doctors and Consultants that work in both, however rules, processes and procedures are miles apart, along with other incentives, one system certainly appears to work better and is clearly a more pleasant experience. At the end of the day short cuts do not work, it is back to basics, do it right, do it properly and do it just the once, in the long term it saves time, money and is a better experience for all concerned.”

“Derriford and other British hospitals have not recruited British doctors and nurses in years mainly because they expect a decent days pay for the hours they are expected to work. I was in hospital when the nurse tending me was in tears because she was losing her job as they merged wards. If you visit Derriford its a disgrace, the wards are either closed down, completely empty of beds etc or have been merged to cut costs. There are more clerical staff at Derriford than medical. This is not a racist comment when I tell you most British trained doctors and Nurses will tell you they have no hope of a job in Britain and most are forced to work abroad in New Zealand, Africa etc - they would love to work in this country but this government and the NHS especially Derriford make this impossible!! My aunt was taken to Derriford while visiting from up country and she could not believe the squalor, the dirt and the disgusting food - I dread being taken ill and visiting Derriford, sadly I've been an inpatient more than I'd like and I've witnessed first hand all of it!! It gets worse not better and I don't see it changing until Derriford takes on board the simple facts of life, stops asking for opinions that will never be considered, and reopens wards and makes itself a teaching hospital where student doctors and nurses are guaranteed jobs if they want them. Get targets back on track and instead of pretending to clean wards, actually get it done every day - this never used to be a problem until Derriford!!”