I have just been for my 6monthly check up at the Walton Centre, and my how things have changed. First of all I noticed they have started charging for disabled parking , but to be fair you do get 30 minutes free, anyone who has been to the Walton and been in and out in 30 minutes must be a miracle worker. You have a choice of paying £3 50 or £4.50 depending how long you think your going to be. The second change is when you go to appointment desk to see the nice ladies to book in ( there are no more nice ladies ) you now have to scan your appointment card or Letter into a computer in the corridor . The third change is when you have scanned your appointment card you then go to the waiting area to look at a large tv screen and wait for your name to come up that tells you which room you have to go to. The forth change is when you leave to go to the exit , you are met by a market stall of fruit and veg for sale. We had to wait five minutes to get out as someone knocked over a box of peaches over and had to wait for them to be picked up , it doesn’t say why it’s being sold who the profits are going too. Honestly you couldn’t make it up. When I got to the car park I felt as though I had done a days work, (if only) I’m going to lay in a darkened room. Take care Charlie B
Geeeez, between the cost of parking and the extortionate prescription charges, and the fact that Cameron wants our dla snatched off us .I can’t afford to have this god awful diease. Might as well take a bottle of pills with some scotch and be done with the flippin lot To top it all off we have the neighbours from hell moved in next door. They love their bare floor boards, and she wears platform high heel wooden things… Sounds like a shire horse above our heads. They replacedtheir gutter and left ours with a gap you could jam your hand in. 3 times I’ve asked him to fix them…, noooooo they would like us to lay for the repair I reckon. I feel like packing life in
Oops I’m so angry I forgot to say… Walton neuro is my hospital.
Did you notice that the signage is in English and Welsh.Walton have grabbed a huge amount of the North West of England and North East Wales.The rulers of the Principality have coughed up money for Walton,so money MUST be wasted on paint.
Last year there were TWO MS Nurses covering from Lancaster to Holyhead.There were other Nurses operating from other hospitals,but that is a huge amount of real estate when you consider some customers live 30 miles from the coast.Compared to other parts of the country WE get very little.
I’ve been dumped by the Pain Clinic,and the rest of them, told to keep playing Pick’n’Mix with the ‘Goodies’ I have twisted out of my GP.It’s OK though I’ve only got to manage the wicked pain in my feet with no help for the rest of my life.
Walton has had a lot of TV coverage recently,showing off the superb staff and facilities that deal with all kinds of problems in the heads of unfortunate souls.I doubt that any of us will be filmed when we get our annual 15 minutes of uncaring arrogaance.Actually,last year I had my best appointment in 12 years with a Latvian Registrar.Back to normal this year in December…Good will to all men,apart from some of the MS crew.
If you are a Newby,you will get good service at diagnosis, and afterwards plus there is a plethora of new drugs available if your PCT will fund them.Dunno how many MS Nurses there are now,but shout as loud as possible to get the service you deserve…The NHS works for you
Wb
Hiya
I was at the Walton Centre on Monday for my annual neuro check up. I parked in the multi storey car park at the hospital next door as there was a queue to get in and out of the Walton Centre. There was a lady at the new check in booths who took the time to explain them to me (although my GP has the same sort of thing so I knew what to do). She also explained the new screens things in the waiting room. I looked on the screen to see which room my neuro was in and then found a seat nearer to the room. The screen said he was running about 15 mins late but then changed to 5 mins. Within 5 mins I was called in by my neuro, who came out of the room to watch me walk to the room (as they do). I had my review (that’s another story!!!), left and was back at the muti storey quick enough to not have to pay anything for the parking (which makes a change).
I didn’t think the changes were too bad and there were plenty of people around to help if you had a question. The fruit stall wasn’t there when I was, although there was a lady being interviewed on camera on the chairs int he reception area which took quite a lot of room up.
Just a shame that it take 30-45 mins to drive there, just to be there for a grand total of 20 mins!
Sue
Hi sue , I know it would be better to park in the multi story car park, but as I’m a wheelchair user and now go alone to the Walton that’s not possible. My daughter used to take me but unfortunately she has just been diagnosed with epilepsy and is unable to drive for twelve months, and she lives quite away from me. I just find it frustrating that the personal care seems to be taken away from people these days. If we can’t get personal care in hospitals where can we get it? Is this all about making money ? It’s far better to have human contact than a machine , also its taking jobs from people. Take care. Charlie B
Hi Charlie
As I said in my previous post my experience wasn’t too bad but, I fully understand what you mean. I do feel that there are people who will park right in front of the building even though they (like me) could walk the short distance from the multi storey car cark, leaving the spaces right at the front of the building for people like yourself, blue badge or not. I really think that getting people with a blue badge to pay to park at the front is wrong, especially as you don’t know how long you will be and it’s expensive.
I also agree with the human contact thing and the fact that the people who used to be on the desk might have been made redundant. I know it’s a sign of the times but considering that the patients at the Walton Centre often have cognitive issues, making it all automated isn’t necessarily thinking of patient needs. I also noticed that the height of the sign in screens may be a bit too high for wheelchair users.
There have been lots of changes at the Walton Centre in recent years, not all of them good. They have lost quite a few really good staff which I think indicates that behind the scenes it isn’t all rosey… unfortunately it’s us who pay for it.
Take care
Sue
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