"My mums hospital stay in the Forth Valley Royal Hospital – ICU and Ward 11B"

Mum was admitted with pancreatitis at the end of February. After a week or so she was getting worse and started to develop delirium, this resulted in her being sedated and ventilated into the ICU. She remained there for around a week and half. Her condition was critical. The staff at the ICU were amazing. I had sent in some music for her on an MPS player and they ensured it was played. I emailed them photos that they printed and put around her bed. At the beginning she was too sick to speak, we were calling the ward 3 times a day and spoke to many of the staff on rotation. They were always highly professional, understanding and informative, even when we could tell they were very busy. When she was a bit better we video called her daily. They were excellent at facilitating this. 

We understand the extra pressure that COVID puts on the staff, caring for mum and also being our only information source. It must be alot of pressure describing the situation to loved ones with no medical understanding, when we are unable to visit to see us with our own eyes. The were fantastic.  

Unfortunately we cant remember their names, but every nurse we spoke to was great and we would like to thank them. Mum is coming home tomorrow after a number of weeks recovering on the ward. Heartfelt thanks for all the staff for facilitating her recovery and supporting us along the way. 

After spending almost 2 weeks in ICU on a ventilator with pancreatitis, my mother was admitted to surgical ward 11B. Her doctor was Miss Cannings and the Charge nurse was Chris. She was very ill and soon diagnosed with delirium. We called the hospital to speak to her 3 times a day and the staff were excellent at facilitating this, even though at times we could tell they were very busy.

To treat the delirium, Chris was able to override the COVID restrictions to allow my father to visit. He visited daily and always reported positive interactions with the staff. I had recently returned from overseas where I was working and had 3 negative covid tests and fresh out of Isolation. After requesting visitation I was granted this. The daily visits were getting a bit much for dad and I knew that contact with me would help mum. I cant thank Chris and his staff enough (there was an acting charge nurse, whose name I cant remember who was a key player in this too), this decision didn't have to be taken and it helped mum massively and also us. Me and dad did alternate visits for around 2 weeks. My experience with the staff was fantastic, I met many of the nurses in charge of mum and unfortunately cannot remember all of their names. They were always on hand to help, even at times being very busy. Any questions I had were answered and they really helped me to understand mums condition and how I could help. Chris gave me some of his time when I requested so I could raise some questions I had, he was highly professional and reassuring.

The student nurses on the ward were brilliant, they were very professional, kind, caring and mum was delighted with them. I contacted Miss Cannings with some concerns about halfway through mums stay and she gave me time too, in a clearly very busy schedule. I was highly impressed with how knowledgeable she was about mums journey, from before ICU. She was caring and kind, I had explained to her that my dad was struggling with some things and she said all the right things to reassure him on the phone. This goes the same for the active charge nurse (whos name I cannot remember). There was some concerns that dad had, more a family issues with mums sister calling the hospital, I asked her to reassure him that her calls were not a problem, which she did and the situation was calmed. 

The care mum received has be really great, also the support the family has had. In these very tricky times with COVID, I am very grateful and full of respect for all the staff. Mum is coming home tomorrow to start her recovery here. A big thank you from us and mum!