"Fantastic staff"

My son recently had a football accident. As soon as he was Triaged in ED, the nurses tended to him, supported with pain and admitted him straight to resus even though the department was really busy. From the nurses who looked after him and nurses / HCSW in the department who were with other patients - they chatted to him, made him laugh.

All of us could see how serious the leg break was and I was so grateful to the team on how they worked to take his mind off the pain and shock. Their temperament with patients is second to none, often having a laugh with my son  but in good jest to help him.

The department was busy but the nurses , doctors and HCSW were all brilliantly calm and cheery - they were excellent with him and had good camaraderie with each other.  Their kindness, compassion and humour in a serious situation really helped calm me for one, but importantly made my son smile (for once as a teenager!)  who in fairness was in agony. 

To the on-call orthopaedic registrar who treated my son (so sorry for forgetting your name!)  -  thank you for your care, kindness and excellent communication of the situation. We left ED clear on what had happened, treatment at every step and the management plan the following day. The manipulation of his growth plate  was handled with expertise, patience and kindness and most importantly for my son with minimum pain as possible. Thank you for making an anxious parent feel heard and listened to, but most importantly for your excellent holistic care. Same to the ortho receiving team the next day (Mr Bailey) and the service planning team who organised his admission.  Thank you for all your care and compassion in planning and explaining his op and the hard work by the service team in the background to organise his admission. 

Ward 19 nurses and student Nurse Rebecca - outstanding.  Thank you for making him comfortable, nursing him and looking after us as a family. Nothing was ever too much of an ask. Nothing was rushed with nurses and Rebecca spending time with us before and after the op. The compassionate care again was second to none, making sure my son was comfortable. Ward 19 and 20 were clearly busy if not full but the nurses calmed the environment by the manner in which the spoke and treated people all day long. Their sustained compassion is a credit to them all as a team as it's a long day mentally looking after anxious parents like us and then the actual patient! 

And to Sam our porter for making him laugh going to theatre. The excellent anaesthetists - forgive me I forget both your names. My son was anxious about the cannula and Anaesthetic, he never felt the cannula going in. He was so surprised about this despite the amount of people telling him that would be the case. You both listened to him and delivered a care plan he required  to alleviate the anxiety. The administration of the GA looked easy because of your skill but I know its far from that. Thank you both for making me comfortable too but most importantly the quality of care delivered to my son. You make your job look so easy but there is a lot going on and I felt at ease in the room with you both. Thanks again to your kindness and compassion to my son. 

I don't want to end on a negative and this is nothing to do with the care he received but the environment around the hospital for consideration. The car parking situation is quite horrendous when your son has a painful broken leg with nowhere to park and every bump in the road hurts. The evening of ED was fine as it was late but to attend for theatre - drop off zones are non existent because they are blocked, smokers smother the entrance polluting the air to the entrance plus there are no wheelchairs that support a leg that needs to be elevated. Parking, getting a chair, finding kind people to help us into the hospital and  nowhere to balance his leg on the chair was stressful. It took 21 minutes to find a kerb to park on followed by a chase around the hospital to find a chair that will accommodate a full leg cast of a really tall boy. We parked at the back of the hospital and again the smokers were privy to chairs polluting the entrance with cigarette smoke. We were late as a result of the process despite leaving with plenty of time. 

Finally, to the trauma assessment unit. We are still attending and wow what a busy unit with slick process in place to get ready for assessment by the medical team. Thank you to the radiographers for delivering care around my son's pain as he was feeling quite sore and to the nurses and CSW in TAU who were clearly busy but had the flow of the unit to a T. The colour sign to x-ray is fabulous and easy to follow. I'm terrible with names but the fabulous AHP managing the casts (I think Scott), who was working in the plaster room. You had all our spirits up with your manner and stories. you gave us great advice on pain management amongst a few other tips and tricks that have worked a treat. Thank you everyone.