"Praise for Aberdeen Royal Infirmary Staff"

Yet again I am compelled to “put pen to paper” and sing the praises of the dedicated staff of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. This time, however, it is not the wonderful nurses and doctors that are the target of my accolades, it is the men working tirelessly behind the scene to keep this huge complex running smoothly and efficiently at all times.

After seventy years of comparatively good health the wheels have fallen off, the body keeps on complaining and I find myself the most unwilling visitor to hospitals and GP surgeries on a regular basis. How blessed am I, therefore, to find that ALL these encounters, whilst being stressful on many levels, are made bearable by the heartwarming, gentle and positive staff of these establishments.

Last Wednesday’s visit to MRI West was no exception. After a particularly stressful entry into Aberdeen on a solidly blocked A96 the scan went off without a hitch.

My wife (and constant companion on these ‘excursions’) wasn't so fortunate however. Her visit to the Ladies ended with her wedding ring disappearing down the drain whilst washing her hands. Concerned with my wellbeing, she did not mention this until Saturday morning. I phoned ARI immediately and was connected to a very friendly Engineer by the name of Eric who promised, after being told the sad tale and the place where the ring disappeared, to try and find it. Not even an hour had passed before I received a call form Eric with the good news that he had recovered the ring, not in the waste pipe of the basin my wife said she had used and he had investigated first but in the adjacent one.

How absolutely brilliant is that? I would have given up after dismantling and checking the first, rather smelly waste pipe and not finding the ring. Not so Eric, he carried on searching, his tenacity was rewarded and, after a two and a half hour dash to Aberdeen, my wife was, most joyfully, reunited with her thirty four year old friend and constant companion.

Sadly, by the time we arrived at the hospital, Eric had gone off duty and his colleague Scot handed over the precious ring. So, with the aid of “Patient Opinion”, I take this opportunity to say a huge big THANK YOU to Eric. He is a star and he, once again, reinforces my belief that NHS staff, without exception, are incredibly special people.