"Treatment following hand injury"

Earlier this year, I suffered a serious hand injury resulting in the partial loss of one finger and fractures to another following an accident which led to unforeseen complications which required extensive treatment.  

I really want to express my sincere gratitude to all the healthcare staff I encountered along my treatment and care journey. The level of professionalism, clinical skill, support and help I have received from everyone was second to none and for this, I will always be truly grateful.

To the Nurses, Doctors and staff of the Plastics trauma Unit in the Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, SEHSCT, I want to say a huge thank you and for your patience when I was asking multiple questions and creating awkward scenarios as I was trying to come to terms how the situation I had found myself in was going to disrupt my normal daily life!!

Following discharge from hospital and trying to come to terms with what had happened and how I could negotiate keeping my daily work going and general family life, I was introduced to the Community Nursing Team in my own home area of Coalisland, who were charged with having to deliver IV antibiotic treatment to me at home for 6 weeks.

To say this team were fantastic would do them an injustice. Again, with my awkward work schedule and questions, this team never batted an eyelid, and nothing was too much trouble for them. Their professionalism, knowledge and caring support was not lost on me and for that to Margaret, Maxine, Aisling, the 2 Niamhs, (Red and Blue😂) Norma and student Nurse John, you really are a brilliant team and I cannot thank you enough for all you did for me it was truly, truly appreciated. 

Finally being from a healthcare background myself, I know the challenges the NHS is under in the current climate and with the expansion of community nursing services in the SHSCT area in the process of being rolled out I trust the support this team and others require will be made readily available so they can continue to support other members of our community in the same way as I was treated, without the service being compromised due to increased working hours or lack of staff which only results in increased stress on existing staff and does nothing to help recruitment and retention into the healthcare sector.