"Recent cancer diagnosis and treatment"

In August 2022 I was diagnosed with mouth cancer. Within a fortnight an entire team of medical professionals at Head and Neck, NHS Scotland (Dundee and Kirkcaldy) had my back; these included surgeons, nurses, dentists, dieticians; speech pathologists (and later psychologists).

At one meeting to assess my treatment two surgeons, a radiologist, a dentist and a care nurse interviewed me at length about my job and its requirements. They took me seriously, honestly evaluated the pros and cons of various treatments and accepted my decision to go for surgery.

I was so impressed by the care they took, not just about my health, but also the long term career implications of treatment. Within one month of diagnosis I was admitted to Dundee Hospital for surgery. There was none of the delay so heralded in the media.

On the surgery ward, it was immediately apparent that it was understaffed, though I can only commend every single 'on-staff' nurse. As a series of crisis with other patients on the ward began to evolve, these nurses were put under so much pressure, that they could not do their normal duties. The head nurse was so stretched I don't know how she survived it.

I have nothing but admiration for these nurses, who are effectively working in a war zone. Later, agency nurses were called from as far away as Aberdeen. This saved the day, but their predicament and lack of immediate knowledge was not ideal. I completely endorse the nurses demand that staff pay be on par with agency pay.

Post surgery, my treatment was followed up with such rigour, I was speechless with gratitude. The dieticians, the speech pathology nurses (Katie in particular), the after care nurses and the support surgeons were just impeccable in their attention and care. I am so impressed by the professionalism, the relentless care and their personalised service.

They not only cared about my treatment, they cared about my life, and future and concerns. After I was presented with an extremely difficult decision about further surgery, they referred me to Maggie's (Kirkcaldy) where I started some therapy sessions with the resident psychologist.

I have to be honest and say I felt they were basically too young, too inexperienced and too concerned with the clock to be of any use. I have seven degrees in various behavioural sciences, so I kind of know what I'm talking about. Nonetheless, I am grateful the service was there.

All up, I have nothing but immense admiration and respect for the teams of people who have helped me through this crisis. I can do nothing but commend them and support them in their demands for much better conditions and pay.