"I was dreading the surgery"

My son had a circumcision at Ninewells Hospital. We were not given any real information about the operation, preparation, etc until the day before surgery and this was very stressful. We didn't know he would need to fast, for example, so we hadn't been able to talk to him about this in advance. The doctor had said we would have 3 phone calls leading up to the surgery to discuss everything but that didn't happen. We had one phone call to give us the surgery date, which was bizarre and rude! A staff member called my mobile and abruptly asked if a certain date would do for my son without saying what it was in reference to - I had to ask who it was! I thought it was perhaps someone from school! When I asked where they were calling from they said Ninewells and it all began to make sense. I had a couple of questions, such as would I be able to come in with him, but they didn't seem to know anything and couldn't direct me to anyone else. They then said we would receive a call to book a covid test and would then have to isolate for 4 days. The date arrived and we still hadn't received any such call, so I spent half a day (whilst meant to be working) navigating the labyrinthine Ninewells switchboard system, it literally took a few hours and several calls to find out that someone was planning to call us the following day. This was really stressful as I was worried we would arrive for surgery and be turned back for not having had a test, so I had no choice but to spend hours trying to get the information.

In the end we received a call booking his test for the following day in the next city, in the middle of my working day. If we could have been given more than a few hours notice this would not have been problematic, but despite having had months to plan for this we were given a few hours notice and it was a nightmare for me logistically. I can't exactly ask a friend or neighbour to cover for me. This is where I feel the NHS treats people as if they have no purpose except to be a patient. I was just expected to reorganise my life, and cause significant disruption to others in the process.

I was dreading the actual surgery as everything seemed so utterly disorganised and people had been so unhelpful on the phone, but actually it was the opposite. Everyone was amazingly pleasant and efficient. What was fantastic was when staff spoke directly to my son. He is 7 and they treated him with dignity, not speaking over his head but actually addressing him directly. This immediately put him at ease and helped a lot. They used their first names in some cases which was good for helping him to relate and to feel that he knew who was who. We were asked the same half dozen questions in sequence by every professional who came along to introduce themselves, and I guess for children perhaps this is reassuring. It did seem a big demand on staff time and a lot of repetition! Three different medical professionals came along, one after the other, to explain that some cream was going to be put on the back of my son's hand, for example, before the cream was applied.

The staff all seemed to like one another and there was such a positive atmosphere, with people smiling and joking with each other. What a difference that made - it felt like a team and not an institution.

Thank you so much to everyone who was there on the day. You were lovely and you were kind and the surgery was not a traumatic experience for my son.