With the centralising of A&E departments to large specialist hospitals, to my mind, it is even more important to have good directional signs to these sites.
Everybody including emergency services are having to travel further with patients to such facilities.
Surely it is essential that proper standard directional signs are deployed in the most appropriate places. I see plenty of new signs saying "Hospital NOT A& E" so someone gets new signs erected.
Who does one SHOUT at to get this sorted out?
Examples.
Chichester. A significant tourist area so there are many drivers, often foreign visitors, unfamiliar with the area.
From the A27, the major road in the area, there is a good large red A & E sign pointing to the town. All other signs are just small ones with black lettering on the usual white background but all mixed up with other directional signs on the many roundabouts.
A tip. If you unfortunately need to go there from the A27 then follow the larger brown tourist sign with a mask on it directing you to the theatre.
Southampton. I gave directions to a friend on a non urgent visit to her son.
M27, A33, A35 then you are bound to see signs cos its walking distance. I identified the route etc. etc. from several maps and printouts supplied.
She reported back ?not easy to find the hospital and the ambulance taking her son there, just 40 miles from Poole, had difficulty finding it.?
Rant not over. I am not ranting at my friends on the forum but I do want to rant at those ******** driving a desk who I hope can fix the problem. If they went into the real world with their eyes open we might get them to act.
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This is a problem Henry but I think it stems not from a desire to hide the information from people but from the fact that the sign erectors all live in the area where they are putting up signs. They know which way and they assume a similar knowledge in strangers to the area.
Certainly in the Black Country where urban areas merge without any distinct border or break the local road signs are pathetic for strangers but for locals present no problem at all.
A case perhaps for some swapping between local authorities when need arises?? Or is that too simple.?
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Write to your MP with a request that the matter be taken up with the Secretary of State for Health (Alan Milburn) as an important matter of general concern, which indeed it is. Copy the letter to the chief executive of your local health authority (www.hiow.nhs.uk/#who), if you can pin it down between organizational and name changes, and to your local county councillor. Send further copies to the county chief highways engineer (tinyurl.com/xz9f) and to equivalent officials in other areas of personal concern to you. Write to the local press, especially if you do not receive prompt and serious responses from the politicians and bureaucrats, in which case you'll get the newspapers on your side too. Get local radio and regional television companies interested by copying your letters to them too; phone ahead and get the names of the proper recipients.
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Don't think Alan Milburn would appreciate that as he "legged it" some months ago. It 's now John "The Top" REID.
DVD
"The Top" = the fastest spinner in the Party.
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I've seen signs "Hospital - NOT A & E", which would appear to mean, 'go and die somewhere else'!
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Seems to be a lack of signage in general and not just for hospitals. When in areas I am not familiar with I have noticed that a lot of roads at junctions are missing the road name signs. Not so handy if you are trying to navigate using an AtoZ, as I was in Liverpool on Friday and Grimsby on Saturday.
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Roger. Thanks for your reply.
I will try some of these approaches.
Can I encourage forum readers to check on the signs to their nearest A& E when they are in the vicinity. Just imagine the anguish of not knowing the way to an A & E.
The blue signs, as mentioned, NO A & E, show how few the A & E hospitals are.
Help sort it today and I pray you will never need the signs but you know others will silently thank you.
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My home town of Southport has a huge (and I mean huge) hospital equipped for virtually any eventuality. I don't meant this to get political, but the powers that be have decreed that the A&E department will no longer cater for children. Instead, children will have to go to Ormskirk approximately ten miles away. So you have the ridiculous concept where if you are involved in a car crash with your family, you will be tended to in Southport whereas your children will be taken ten miles away from you, with no one there to comfort them.
I am sorry if this has got too political and has no relevance, but it is a barbaric situation that has everything to do with bean counters and chuff all to do with good old fashioned compassion.
Rob
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I actually live 2 minutes walk away from Ormskirk Hospital.
In the event you describe, you would all be taken to Ormskirk. Ormskirk still treats adults and children, its just Southport won't treat kids anymore.
This situation is, in my view, far preferable to the alternative proposal of closing all A+E services at Ormskirk and leaving the whole shebang at Southport.
I've you've ever tried to drive from Ormskirk into Southport on a Bank Holiday or busy Sunday I'm sure you'll appreciate why, its not uncommon for traffic from Kew roundabout to back up well passed the (now defunct) Reynolds Renault/Nissan dealership. Coming out of Southport is not half as bad.
I agree with you that the best situation for all concerned would be to have everything available at both sites, and if it meant paying a bit more tax to get it I'd gladly pay it, but unfortunately a lot of people want something for nothing and the figures just don't add up.
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Quinny100
I stand (well, sit) corrected. I didn't realise that Ormskirk treated adults as well.
I know well the traffic problems that occur on the A570 on a summer's day. Having said that, an ambulance would have one hell of a job getting from Southport to Ormskirk at tea-time on such a day.
I guess in the end it really does come down to money and the fact that merging Southport and Ormskirk hospitals means that one of the towns is going to lose out.
Perhaps we'd better stop there as this has little to do with the subject in hand. I can also hear the mods lurking with their magic scissors....
Cheers
Rob
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