"A&E Life saver"

After being requested by the Urgent Treatment Centre in Lewes to present myself to A&E at the Princess Royal in Haywards Heath due to in their words my blood pressure being “off the scale” I duly arrived at around 10.45 am.

After registering my personal details at reception, I was swiftly seen by a duty nurse who took my blood pressure several times to be sure of accurate readings. A long wait then pursued amounting to 8 hrs 45mins.

Not ever being a frequent visitor to a hospital or thankfully the doctors over the years, I can honestly say I have the utmost admiration for all the variety of staff who attended to me during that time. Despite the obvious pressures they were all under I marvelled at the dedication and fastidious care I received, always informing me in meticulous detail what and why the various examinations were taking place.

The day culminated in a CT scan of my head to rule out any further complications that my have arisen.

As a service that is free at the point of entry, the NHS provided me with excellent highly knowledgeable doctors, ancillary staff and access to very specialised equipment. Despite their long hours aiding, supervising and monitoring a vast array of patients, all staff somehow remained courteous, friendly and jovial. I can only marvel at all their diligence and commitment to providing the correct healthcare for a multitude of ailments being presented over the almost 9 hours I observed of their day.

Perhaps the only pitfall was the car park hourly fees, which I was appalled to hear that hospital staff have to pay on a daily basis out of pretty low standards of pay.

How Doctors / Nurses face the pressure of duties that medical care requires on a daily basis is phenomenal and I can only applaud their constant struggle on the public’s behalf. Praise is clearly not enough, it was obvious to me that conditions need to improve, let alone the pay structures being woefully inadequate in your sector. I sincerely hope that a change of Government provides the resources that the present one has plundered and tried to let it slip into privatisation, a ruinous route for any public service.

I would very much like to thank you all for setting me on a healthier path for the future.