"Great service"

It is now almost a year since my wife suffered an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrage at home and was taken into the JRH. I am pleased to say that she survived and has made a good recovery. Not all have been so fortunate. After the Emergency unit arranged a scan, she was taken to neurology and received speedy surgery to 'coil' the aneurysm and keep it from casing further damage to the brain. The consultant telephoned me to tell me the surgery to be performed and rang me again to tell me it has been successful. Thereafter my wife went into the Neuro IT ward, where all staff were excellent. Another staff member made them self known and told us that she would support my wife as needed. Whilst on the ward my wife agreed to participate in a research project.

We were always fully informed (whether we retained some of what was said is another thing!). Later she was taken to the normal neuro ward. Staff there were, it seemed, more rushed, but always helpful and informative. My wife had some minor set-backs, which were dealt with promptly. As recovery took place, patients progressed through the ward rooms to one nearest the exit - it reminded me of an old 60's film called Twice Around the Daffodils, where aspired to walk twice round the daffodils which they could do when they were better. So, eventually my wife was released home to the realities of life, which took some weeks. Since leaving the hospital she was return for (successful) follow-up MRI and goes again in 2018. Meantime we have attended periodic SAH focus group meetings where we receive presentations from hospital professionals of subjects relevant to us, but it also gave us the chance to meet and talk with other patients. We can only praise treatment received from hospital staff at every stage. The faltering part is the wider NHS service where on-going support is patchy for SAH patients. GPs don't always seem to know what to do!