"Thank you for the care after emergency admission"

I am extremely grateful for the care I received at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh in A&E, the Acute Medical Unit and then ward 205. 

After calling 111 I was advised to go to A&E. It was a busy Saturday afternoon but after three hours waiting a nurse realised I wasn’t well and got me onto a trolly in a cubicle and got me moved up the queue. After being seen by a doctor I was admitted to hospital with cellulitis. Being only 35 and otherwise in good health, it was all a bit daunting and overwhelming but the staff were great putting me at ease. My only criticism is that from arriving at 3pm it took over 6hours from arriving to be given any medication and during that time I was only given 1 small glass of water - suggest there should be more water readily available in the A&E waiting room and in cubicles (as they do in the wards).

I was then admitted to the Acute Medical Unit on the Saturday night. The nursing team were very welcoming and as my temperature was spiking at about 41 degrees they brought me ice pops and some bags of ice to try and cool me down through the night. As to be expected it was a busy ward with lots of people being moved in and out. My only suggestion would be to explore whether the AMU wards could be single sex where possible given men and women are mixed together. 

The next evening I was moved to ward 205 to create space in the AMU for other patients from A&E, there was no space on the general medical wards and I was told 205 often take general medical cases too. The nurses were great - shout out to Brian who helped me settle in and also discharged me a few days later. It was so much nicer to be on a smaller ward (all male and only 4 beds) allowing more sleep as it was much quieter than the AMU. I had 3 nights on this ward (meaning 4 nights and 5 days in hospital in total). I want to give a huge thank you to Kirsty on ward 205 the phlebotomist - whilst other nurses had struggled to get blood, Kirsty was excellent and managed to get it first time every time (including 4 lots for blood cultures and other tests) - her humour was also much appreciated and you could see she genuinely enjoyed her job.

I was discharged after 5 days and the IV antibiotics did their job and I was feeling great again. 

Thank you again for excellent care and in the nicest possible way, I hope not to see you again!