"Professionalism, humour and empathy"

I wish to thank everyone who contributed to my stay in Ward 208 and to the success to my hernia operation in March.

We were treated with a mixture of kindness, professionalism, humour and empathy from all the staff, that seemed to coexist with the need to act quickly and to be decisive. A difficult thing to sustain.

I was scheduled to have a scan that after a very long wait, because of demand on the system, couldn’t happen. It is important to say that during this period we never felt abandoned – we were regularly updated with information and the situation was resolved by an appointment to return two days hence. In the event, I attended the next day.

That day must be etched into the minds of the CT Scan staff because it turned into the day that two scanners out of three broke down, and rather than returning home I was given a bed in Room 427 in the hope that I might get a scan later in the evening. Eventually, with the catchup on scans not fully realised and extraordinary and unusual demands made on the surgical team, I did not have my operation until the following day.

During all this time the same mixture of kindness, professionalism, humour and empathy seemed to pervade Ward 208. This is perhaps a subtle feeling exemplified by names remembered, the casual wave or a quick word from someone you saw the day before. People exercising extraordinary levels of responsibility, who cope with constantly evolving treatments and technologies but retain a grip on the reasons and the objectives of why they do what they do.

Everyone deserves a mention but may I say that Staff Nurse Aryalakshmi, who I saw many times during my stay, seemed to encapsulate everything that I experienced in 208. Busy but with time for all her patients, interested in their lives and welfare, treating them all as people worthy of her care.

Thank you