"We are beyond thankful for her going above and beyond her duties."

I wanted to highlight the fantastic work and quick thinking of Aoife, District Nurse at Omagh Hospital Complex. For the past number of months, she has been making routine visits to my Mum who is undergoing cancer treatment.

In 2023, my Dad underwent a full knee replacement, he was discharged from hospital the following day. That evening and throughout the night he suffered excessive bleeding, which did not ease up. Aoife arrived early to attend to my Mum, after we asked Aoife’s opinion on my Dad’s condition, she was concerned by the situation. When changing the dressing she realised the seriousness of the situation. She made a call to her manager to ensure that the other patients she was due to visit were attended by other nursing staff.

She advised taking my Dad to A and E as soon as possible. She rang ahead to a specialist in Altnagelvin hospital to notify them we were on our way. She handled the situation calmly, with great care and initiative. Her forward-thinking, and ringing ahead, meant that it wasn’t long before the consultant could attend to my Dad.

I had taken photos of the dressing being changed that morning by Aoife and they requested copies to keep on file as they could not believe the extent of the bleeding. The visit resulted in an overnight stay to monitor infection levels, the level of bleeding and to assess if a blood transfusion was required.

Thankfully, the following day the bleeding had stopped and my Dad was discharged. Aoife kept in touch to ensure I got speaking with the consultant and to check in on my Dad was doing. We are beyond thankful for her going above and beyond her duties.