St Vincent’s University Hospital

Pleasantly surprised that I got in within 20 minutes as a «walk in» for an xray. It did take about 45 minutes for a Dr to review it before I could leave though. But sure, the last thing I want is that to be checked by someone not qualified or in a hurry, so no bother.
Any staff I encountered were really friendly, the radiology dept was clean and bright, and it was nice an peaceful. If it wasn’t for the coulpe of patients who were coughing so hard I was afraid thier lungs were going to sploosh out onto the floor, it would have been a rather relaxing experience.
As always, the coffee is a bit «blech». thats what hospitals excel in though :) Shame about the coffee, considering there’s a Starbucks, a Costa and another. Using some coffee grounds and a bit of staff training would help I suppose. Food-​wise, the canteen is hit and miss. The deli counter in the main hall is actually quite good though.
I’m going to give them 4 star overall, but I would have no problem giving Radiology a 5 star on its own!

First of all, we are Americans, in a foreign land, and coming into a hospital with a broken femur. Basically, we sat in the emergency room from 9 in the morning until 11 at night before an orthopedic surgeon saw my wife. The physicians, and nursing staff are completely overworked. Found the moral and motivation not to be the best in the world. The nursing care was great, but a great deal of nurses have left Ireland to go to Canada and Australia where the pay is better. Was kept in the emergency room for two days before a bed opened up. That hospital bed was a lots better than the ones in most US hospitals. Takes a long time to get a request done. Needed a Fit to Fly form filled out to get back to US, and it took over 18 hours before it was accomplished.
We were so glad to get back. Dread Obamacare — got a lot to look forward to.

Brilliant experience.
After the awful time i had with my local GP (see other review), I was already in a bad mood when I arrived at A&E. Luckily I’ve never had to use a and e but i had generally heard bad reviews of long wait times and poor service. I cant speak for everyone but my experience was excellent. Didnt charge me, didnt keep me waiting long and the doctor was extremely helpful and caring. Two thumbs up!

This place is set up like a maze and it doesn’t really seem like anyone cares whether or not you get to where you’re trying to go.
I’ve been here twice, once to the private ward and once to the public ward: both times I was sent bouncing from department to department for relatively routine procedures because no one had a clue where I was supposed to go. The first time, I finally made it to the correct department in the public ward, only to be redirected 10 minutes down the street to the private ward.
Because all of the appointments are made by post, there’s no much more information I can bring with me other than the appointment slip I receive. I think it’s ridiculous that even armed with that, you could easily spend half an hour just trying to figure out which corridor to go down.
That said, the doctors there are quite nice. The Neurology department especially: Dr. Tubridy and Dr. Kelly, despite having a very full waiting room, took time to answer every single one of my questions, and event schedule my next appointment then and there, rather than telling me it’d come out by post.
The phlebotomists are also really chatty and affable, you hardly notice you have a needle sticking out your arm.
So, overall: great doctor experience, terrible experience of the place itself.

So I’ve had to spend a few days in and out of St. Vincent’s lately, and for the most part, it’s been an excellent experience. Hospitals (and the HSE, in general) don’t get much love from Irish people, so I’ll go against the grain and give them a bit of a Unilocal-​hug.
Couple of things if you’ve been referred to the A&E, or any of the department:
1. You will have to wait. It’s a hospital, not a McDonalds. There’s sick people everywhere, and the staff don’t get a bonus for getting through the throngs quickly. If you’re incapable of waiting, I’d recommend some self-​surgery, which will make you appreciate very quickly the joy of sitting about.
2. Self-​diagnosis doesn’t help. I know that man-​flu is basically the worst disease in the world (AIDS + cancer x 100 = man-​flu), but you’ll be surprised how little medical professionals care about this scourge. You’ll get a lot better level of care if you’re honest and specific about your symptoms, rather than just giving out about how much you’re «dying».
3. Bring a book. You’ll spend a lot of time sitting about, I was screened three times on my last visit, with waits of between 20 and 40 minutes between each screen. If I didn’t have a book to read, I would have gone crazy. You actually shouldn’t bring an iPod, or anything with headphones, since batteries are unreliable and you’ll need to listen out for your name to be called too.
Oh, and St. Vincent’s has a really nice deli, bizarrely enough. It’s the strangest thing, this nice open area with a huge selection of food. In a hospital. Yes, please!

I’ve had a particularly good week, during which I’ve received not one, but two letters of referral for Vincents Hospital. Lucky me.
Man flu whinging aside I can happily say that neither complaint is quite as painful as getting said letters into Vincents Hospital. Do not, under even the most lamentable or otherwise plague ridden circumstances, attempt to call them. You will be bounced from the department of irrelevance, to the board of disinterest, back again, and ultimately to an unmanned answering machine in the basement.
Then, after a few hours trying, you finally get through to someone who cares enough to inform you that all letters of referral must be posted.
No, really.
Really?
Really.
Let’s say hypothetically that you, like me, are an idiot. A slow learning, hard headed, moron. And let’s assume that you, like me, forgot to attach your contact details to the GP’s initial letter. And let’s say that you, like me, assumed that this could be fixed with a simple phonecall. This, despite your foreknowledge of Vincents operators. Yes, you too would be exceptionally angry by the time you cop how utterly pointless phone’s are.
I eventually went in on foot, ready to tear chunks of plaster from the walls with the shear decibellic force of my aggregate frustrations. But they completely disarmed me, they were so nice, it was so quick. Why can’t they be like that on the phone?
Save yourself the trouble, buy some stamps, post it. I still don’t have an appointment. But I’ve been assured that, someday, I will get one.

I wish I’d gone here when I first broke my thumb because I’m pretty sure they would have spotted that right away. They were really good with my other minor injuries though and I’ve accompanied friends as well. The staff are fantastic, there is no other word for it, and will make 100% sure that you’re ok before they let you go home. It’s a nice, modern hospital with a huge car park, which brings me to my one complaint because you have to pay for parking here. Not only when you visit your relatives or friends in hospital but also when you came by car yourself, which I think is a bit strange.

I’ve never been treated in St Vincent’s but I visited my brother here and I was quite impressed. He broke his arm and was admitted for surgery and he got great care and attention. The staff were lovely and when I was there with him the chaplin even joined us for a friendly chat.
He actually came to the A&E here another time they were brilliant as well. They carried out all sorts of tests etc and sent him home with a clean bill of health. However, they found a minor problem a few days later after checking his bloods and phoned him up to let him know and to tell how to get it treated. I know you should expect this sort of thing from a hospital, but the ones in Ireland get such a hard time that you tend to not expect anything from them! Top marks for Vincent’s in my opinion.