"Grateful for a good experience"

I was admitted recently to the surgical same day assessment unit for planned surgery. I was quickly called into an allocated bay where I was informed that the surgical team/anaesthetic team would come in to speak with me. My only disappointment as an anxious patient was that a relative couldn’t stay as no relatives are allowed in the ward. Once I had spoken with my surgeon and the anaesthetists I was allowed to sit in the waiting room with my partner and a lovely nurse showed us into a separate waiting area with recliner chairs and a TV which made my wait for surgery much more comfortable and settled my anxieties! I want to say a thanks to student nurse Richard in the unit who was very friendly and chatty throughout. 

The pre op checks were very thorough and I met with two different anaesthetists including the consultant anaesthetist Simon I think his name was? Can’t remember the name of the other anaesthetic doctor (maybe Thomas) but both were great, very informative and settled my anxieties massively! Both were there when I was being placed under general anaesthetic and both told jokes and we laughed, the last thing I remember before going to sleep was laughing with them which was great. I’ve been very distressed prior to previous surgeries so going to sleep laughing is a new one for me! 

Mr Darabnia completed my surgery and was very pleasant in his manner and came to see me before my operation to explain fully what would happen. His junior doctor Josh also came in to introduce himself and let me know he was working with Mr Darabnia that day. He also clarified if I had any questions. 

The theatre nurse who looked after me after was lovely, I can’t remember her name but she’d looked after me before and was so lovely. She kept me calm when I was panicking because my blood pressure was low and was so reassuring and fast acting when I expressed levels of pain. 

When I returned to the ward the staff were lovely welcoming me back and making sure I was comfortable. They made me some toast and pushed fluids since my blood pressure was low. All in all the unit was busy but had a relaxed and friendly atmosphere which I feel helped putting people at ease. 

My blood pressure was quite low following surgery so once the unit closed I was moved to ward 20 for further observation before my discharge home. When I arrived two lovely students came over to introduce themselves and take my observations which were still low. I was surprised these were not taken again before my discharge home and I was also sent home with less antibiotics than recommended by the surgeon and in my discharge letter which meant I had to follow this up with my GP- less than ideal due to recently having surgery. 

All in all, I felt this was a really successful admission and everyone I encountered was full of compassion and very friendly which made a stressful situation much easier to manage. Thank you all !