"My deaf blind experience at Craigavon hospital."

I am a Deaf blind lady who has no vision. I wear 2 hearing aids but these only provide limited sounds. I was admitted to hospital for what I thought was a bad cold/chest infection. This turned out to be pneumonia. I was admitted to ICU, were I was placed on oxygen had a nebuliser and a big mask on. This was a very scary experience, what little I remember, before I was sedated.

What I want to say is that all the nurses, Dr's and cleaning staff were all amazing. I use the Deaf blind alphabet to communicate and everyone used this with me. They talked to me, told me what was going on and made sure I knew what was happening. I know this type of communication can take a long time and I appreciated so much the effort from all the staff.

I don't like being away from home which is my happy familiar environment, however, the staff made sure I was included in my care and never isolated (which often happens).

I wish they could properly see how crowded and over worked the staff in our hospitals are. I don't believe they truly appreciate their value to the people of Northern Ireland.