Woah! After just being in surgery too, when he'll be much more susceptible! Fingers crossed your boy doesn't get sick.

I have to admit, that for all the complaints about the British NHS, in comparison to Australia they were always pretty good (it's been over a decade since I was there, though, things could have changed). My daughters both had grommits and the hospital was a children's one, so no adults in the beds and only children who were there for operations, not sick children in that area.

Yes, nurses were overworked and very busy, but always helpful when needed. Hospitals and GPs, when it came to children, always erred on the cautious side. Maybe they feared being sued, but even growing up they were always pretty good. Some places talked about nightmare waiting times, but they were rarely more than an hour. Here you can be in the ER for half a day before you're sorted. Not for lack of staff, but because every case requires an army of them to double check each other, sign paperwork off before they can even put a stitch in, have someone check first if they're even allowed to put a stitch in, then sign that they can. Then someone needs to watch them dispose of sharp tools used and sign that off. Then once stitched the dressing needed approval.

People here will get turfed out of the hospital onto the street outside, often with what they arrived with after emergency admission (that is, not much and sometimes half dressed), because they need the beds and that patient was stable.