"Outstanding care journey"

I phoned NHS24 on Saturday afternoon after some worrying abdominal pain, and my journey from there has been one of absolutely incredible care from start to finish. Call handler Danielle and nurse Anne were so kind, knowledgeable and professional, even checking in with me every 5 minutes on hold. Ann made me an appointment at BGH OOH, where I was seen promptly and referred to the surgical team in A&E. Even the reception staff member in A&E was warm and welcoming, and made sure I had water and was comfy sitting out while doing an obviously very stressful job. 

FY Rachel should be so proud of herself as a resident doctor; so thorough and such a reassuring presence from my clerking, pre-op to discharge. She made me laugh, made sure I understood every step of the plan, and went out of her way to check up on my blood results. 

The nursing staff in A&E were also amazing- RN Megan and CSW Mhairi kept me comfortable and took such care of my mum bedside too. 

W7, I truly could not speak highly enough of. RNs Hope, Munria? (So sorry!) and Hannah were absolute gems, chasing up antiemetic prescriptions for me and keeping me calm and informed. The CSWs, every single one of them, were rays of sunshine, and you could see the care they had for every patient on my bay. Special shout out to the young woman whose name I can’t remember (lots of strong pain relief to blame!!) who sat with me at 1am the night before my op, when I was so anxious I thought I was really going to panic. Domestic staff were so happy to chat and keep me company, which went such a long way to helping me through something objectively minor, but was really quite frightening for me. 

ODPs Kate and Lucas in anaesthesia, recovery staff, who held my hand when I was scared and talked me through every little step of my GA. I thought I wouldn’t be able to go through with my surgery but they took such good care of me, along with anaesthetist Imran. My surgeon, Miss Burke, took the time to speak with me in great detail pre-op, and then checked up on me multiple times before discharge. 

I cannot believe the efficiency of my admission; from phoning NHS24 I was discharged in so much less pain with a clear diagnosis and the offending appendix out in just over 24 hours. Every part of the process was staffed by such polite, highly trained members of staff, the entire hospital was clean and so well run, and I could not be more grateful. BGH, such a credit to the trust.