St Michael’s Hospital

Luckily I don’t really have any experince with hospitals. But having heard rather negative stories about waiting times, I was nervous enough when my GP sent me for ECG and blood pressure tests.
But I was very pleasantly surprised by St. Michaels. I walked there as I wasn’t sure about the parking situation (and ended up never really investigating that further). The staff at reception was very friendly and helpful and there was basically no waiting time at all for my tests and again very friendly nurses and doctors that made me feel at ease.
At a later point I went to the Outpatient Department for further tests and the same here.
Friendly, well organised and competent.
I felt very well looked after and everyone spoke to me in a language I could understand — bearing in mind English is not my mother tonque.

Echoing Karina C’s review, Michaels rarely seems to be busy. I’m sure they are, but they hide it well. You’re never waiting very long, not even in A & E. I broke my arm on the pier when I was about ten, and my toe when I was about seventeen, but don’t remember ever even having to queue here.
It’s an old hospital, with everything you’d expect from an old hospital; narrow corridors, lots of wood and Georgian style tiles.
From an access point of view it’s in the middle of Dun Laoghaire. The bus stops right in front of it. Parking may be a bit of a problem though, as there is no carpark worth talking about.
I doubt it has a cafeteria, given the amount of restaurants in the immediate vicinity. If in doubt, Dunphy’s across the road offers one of the finest pints in Dublin.
There’s also a weekend clinic if your GP is unavailable or you want a second opinion.

People in Ireland are always complaining about the health system and our overcrowded hospitals, particularly the A&Es, but I have to say that St Michael’s is not typical in my opinion. I had to go here once with an injured ankle and I think there were only about three other people waiting to see a doctor. A specialist came to me before long and made a follow up appointment for me to see another specialist. I think I went back twice in the end, never had to hang around in queues and was pretty impressed with the service overall. I wasn’t charged a penny either. But maybe I just got lucky!