Care Opinion

Text size

Theme

Language

Videos in BSL or ISL
Help with language translation
Help with reading or listening

I could not ask for better treatment

Posted By Billy11

"I could not ask for better treatment"

About: Cancer Services / Radiotherapy

(as the patient),

I have had excellent treatment here in Radiography and have no complaints whatsoever. All the staff (Reception, nurses, radiographers) are lovely and all very pleasant.

I was originally given morning appointments which, coming from the other side of Perth, was not the best. However, I mentioned this to Billy and he managed to change them to afternoons which worked out much better for us vis a vis travel.

I know people complain about the car parking here but we have never found it to be much of a problem - we have never had to queue for more than 5-10 mins to get a space. But if we do run into problems we can always park at the Maggi Centre. In an ideal world it would be good to be able to have this treatment in Perth and not to have to travel all the way into Dundee, but I realise this is not possible.

I had a bit of a problem at one stage which I mentioned in the clinic and the doctor came down to see me in the waiting room and organised relevant medication. I could not ask for better treatment.

The initial meeting at the Maggi Centre was very informative - we got a talk, a video and were given a pack with all the necessary information. This was all excellent and very well organised.

One point I could mention - about two weeks after the biopsy I got a phone call out of the blue from the nurse practitioner who informed me I had cancer. This call was unexpected and lasted about 13 minutes but I was in such shock I could not remember any of it! And my wife was out at the time so I was alone in the house. I think it would be better if an appointment was made for this phone call so that you are prepared to receive the news, whether it’s good or bad.

Another point to mention is that at one doctor’s appointment the doctor showed me a letter he had received from my consultant which detailed all my results. It would have been good to receive a copy of this letter because although I was told I had cancer I was not given any details about the severity (or otherwise) of it.

More about:
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Gillian Watson, Project Manager, Cancer Services, NHS Tayside 2 days ago
Gillian Watson
Project Manager, Cancer Services,
NHS Tayside

Submitted on 21/08/2025 at 13:24
Published on Care Opinion at 14:57

Dear Billy11

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback about your patient journey.

It's really encouraging to hear about the positive experience you had with Radiotherapy. I am sorry to learn that other parts of your experience, particularly around communication, have not been as positive.

Within the Cancer Care team we regularly review and share patient feedback to help us learn and improve, and your experience will form an important part of that process.

If you feel comfortable doing so, please contact me directly at gillian.watson5@nhs.scot so that we can understand more and look at how we can make improvements. Alternatively, please email the NHS Tayside Patient Experience Team - tay.feedback@nhs.scot.

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Response from Rebekah Speirs, Radiotherapy Practitioner, Radiotherapy, NHS Tayside 2 days ago
Rebekah Speirs
Radiotherapy Practitioner, Radiotherapy,
NHS Tayside

Submitted on 21/08/2025 at 15:19
Published on Care Opinion at 15:19

Dear Billy11

My name is Rebekah, I am one of the therapeutic radiographers involved in the planning and treatment within the radiotherapy department.

Thank you for taking the time to send us some feedback on your experience. It is good to hear that your journey with us has been smooth and that we were able to accommodate your travel requirements by changing your appointment times. I appreciate Perth is a way to travel from and must have added some stress, so I am glad that you did not have any trouble with the parking and were able to find support in Maggie's Centre both for parking and for information in the session you received before your treatment commenced. It also sounds like your medical needs during your treatment were also met promptly and I will pass all this on to the team who will appreciate your kind words.

I am sorry to hear that your experience prior to receiving your treatment was not great, and do hope that you are able to contact Gillian as offered above, who will be valuable in bringing about improvements for all our patients.

Thank you once again for your feedback, and on behalf of all the team here I wish you all the best for your recovery and beyond.

Kind regards,
Rebekah

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k