"Felt completely at ease and safe"

Since my heart attack last year I had an angiogram and corrective procedure carried out at the Jubilee hospital at Clydebank Glasgow. The team there were very knowledgeable and highly efficient, and I was subsequently discharged and advised a follow up angiogram would be carried out in approximately 6 weeks to check progress, as this had been a slightly more complex procedure than normal. 

Following my discharge from the Jubilee hospital my recovery was continued with a telephone consultation from Theresa (senior highly specialist physiotherapist at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow) and I then attended their cardiac rehabilitation department at the QEUH under her team there.

From the get go, despite the anxiety and unknown following a major cardiac episode, I felt completely at ease and safe under the watchful eye of the staff there over a 12 week period, encouraged along the way by the friendly, efficient staff. As a teaching hospital this department also actively encouraged physiotherapy and nursing students to become involved in patient care, a role in my experience often not fully embraced by senior staff.

Although the exercise sessions were in a group format, I never felt that I was just “one of many”. I instead had a feeling that my aftercare was tailored to my condition and needs. This is vital in my experience as a patient recovering from a cardiac episode.

Following organised exercise I now feel better paradoxically after my heart attack than before.

Huge thanks to Theresa, William, Tricia, Donna, Dylan and the team.

On a reflective note, I personally feel that not withstanding the excellent care given by staff at Jubilee hospital, some informed information about my cardiac rehab journey at QEUH would have proved immensely useful at discharge, either by up to date leaflet, or perhaps a dedicated staff member at Jubilee who had first hand knowledge of the work of the QEUH cardiac rehab and could answer questions prior to discharge.

I’m also aware that theatre lists are, by nature of the demand not rigid and must remain fluid depending on current demand, however I was advised prior to discharge from Jubilee hospital that a follow up angiogram would be approximately 6 weeks from discharge, however at date of this feedback I have been advised that there is very little probability of the proposed follow up procedure before at least 26 weeks.