"Made our time in hospital that little bit easier"

All we read about is how our NHS is on its knees and how overwhelmed all the departments are and whilst there are much of this true we had the most amazing experience during a really tricky time for our family.

I had initially contacted NHS24 with concerns about my daughter - we were given an appointment at OOH service in Hamilton and seen by ANP and sent home with antibiotics for suspected kidney infection. Unfortunately this made no difference for her and I was back on the phone the early hours, which led to an ambulance being called and a trip to A&E.

Paramedics and student paramedic were lovely - they offered my daughter lots of reassurance and made her smile. They were worried she might have appendicitis and we were then seen by a really kind Dr at A&E names Lewis. He had amazing bedside manner, focussed on my daughter and she felt really heard by him which made such a difference to how she engaged.

She was then initially admitted to Ward 19 and honestly cannot fault any of the staff there but wanted to highlight Fiona - Fiona works with the diabetic team and isn’t usually there but made such a difference to a little girl who was terrified about what was wrong with her and upcoming surgery. Fiona shared stories about her dog with my daughter and distracted her during some necessary examinations and interventions which really helped her through!

We were then transferred to Ward 20 and my daughter met her surgeon a few times (I cannot remember his name) - he engaged really well with her asking about her hobbies and interests and was clear about why she needed the surgery and what it would entail. He did this in a calm manner and did not dismiss her fear or concerns, instead offered empathy and understanding.

The surgery was a success and again after this we were treated wonderfully by very busy nurses who were constantly multi-tasking but always took time with all the patients to make their time in hospital that little bit easier.

We’ve now got home and reflected on how much easier the hardworking staff made our hospital stay for us as a family and we couldn’t be more grateful!