"An amazing ENT outpatient consultant"

Astrid seen my son recently at his ENT outpatients appointment. My son was referred to this service by audiology after being signed off as his glue ear was no longer effecting his hearing but still had persistent ENT issues, I.e. nasally, sleep apnoea, consistent and frequent night nose bleeds, frequent ear infections etc. Astrid listened to all concerns with great empathy and care. She was also aware of my son and my other children I had brought to the appointment. She gave them each an age and stage appropriate puzzle to work on. This allowing time for us to have an important chat on the best future care for my son without disruption. 

After hearing our concerns, she explained everything thoroughly and clearly in layman's terms (no medical jargon) so I could fully understand why my son was experiencing these concerns. She then gave a clear explanation of his diagnosis and the plan that was needed to treat this. Astrid also wrote everything down again clearly and not in medical jargon. Astrid recognised that these appointments can be overwhelming as its a lot of information shared and to take in. With having processing issues myself I found this amazing! As it then meant I could refer to these notes once home and able to explain clearly all information to my husband who could not make the appointment. 

Astrid also gave a clear timeline of possible time appointment wait time would be etc. She also shared information leaflets on adenoid and tonsil removal surgery for me to read at home to process my child's future surgery. Astrid also explained my son's sleep study which would need to happen to measure his oxygen levels while sleeping and the timeline of when this would also happen.

Astrid is a real credit to the NHS, her understanding of children, families and the importance of having information shared in the correct way was outstanding. I feel a lot of staff could take note from Astrid! 

Thank you so much. What a treasure to the NHS!