"We truly felt supported"

We would like to send our sincere thanks to all the wonderful staff on Ward 3 at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.

Our Dad was fairly healthy with very few health problems when he received a diagnosis of early stage dementia at the start of May this year. He was managing to live independently with only some family support prior to and just after his diagnosis.

Unfortunately, only a few weeks later he became suddenly quite unwell with increased confusion requiring him to be admitted to Ward 3 at RAH at the end of May.

Sadly our Dad's condition continued to deteriorate over the next 17 weeks as an inpatient under the care of Consultant Dr Sritharan and her medical team. We truly appreciate all her efforts and honesty when managing our Dad's complicated case.

It has been so difficult to watch our lovely Dad disappear from us in such a short time as his dementia has progressed. This was only made easier by the absolutely amazing staff on ward 3. 

We cannot thank each and every one of you enough for the kindness, compassion and care shown to our Dad and the understanding and empathy shown to us throughout his long admission. He was treated with dignity, respect and good humour which always helps in challenging times of which there were a few!

We wish that we could name everyone involved with our Dad as they were all fantastic but special thanks to SCN Emma, Alexis and Alex. Stephen (for your endless patience on those very busy nightshifts). To the very kind male domestic (so sorry we don't have your name) who took the time to come and say hello to our Dad everyday with a fist pump, it was so lovely to see!

Lastly, we would like to thank the exceptional Charge Nurse Ashley. On day one she introduced herself and from that day on she never failed to come to us and keep us informed and up to date with our Dad's care. This relieved us of the burden of seeking out any new information. It's hard to explain how important this was to us and as a family we truly felt supported by Ashley during one of the hardest times of our lives.

Our Dad's story now continues in long term care but we have nothing but the highest praise for his treatment and care whilst an inpatient in Ward 3.

The staff work so hard, often in very difficult circumstances, caring for very vulnerable people and we hope that the senior management at the RAH appreciate how lucky they are to have such fantastic team in their hospital.

We will never forget them.