"Exceptional treatment of my late Father"

This email will be directly delivered to the First Minister of Scotland too.

As a family we lost our father to Aspiration Pneumonia, a condition we were not familiar with, in early November 2021. I come from a family of five siblings and myself six in total all of whom are grown and have families of our own. Regardless of our ages it was tough on us all.  My father had been in and out or Hairmyres for the last four years.  We laughed and teased him and would say Dad you have a loyalty card; he was renowned for his famous watch face containing a wedding picture of Mum in Dad in 1954.  I believe every member of staff had seen it and remembered him by it.

The reason for my writing this letter is to bring to your attention the great care, attention to detail, medical and emotional care & support supplied by the staff of Ward five. It was long haul for us all and after almost four weeks of treatment, going on to comfort him and then eventually end of life care.  My Dad made such an impression on the staff and them to him.  He gave them nicknames and they would laugh.  He was clever right until the end and the staff stated themselves that he will be well remembered. They would kiss his forehead and say sleep well and, in the morning, he would be back up shaving. They were astounded by his fight. Obviously, the calm before the storm.

Thanks to all staff in ward five. We would especially like to mention  staff Nurse Lynsey,  auxiliary Sharon and Judith, plus Jim Staff Nurse and Nadine final year student and Margarine as Dad called her. She was fond of Dad.

I feel so badly for the negative press the NHS receives and especially the wait times, hence my letter.  On no occasion did my dad wait any longer than 30 minutes for an Ambulance or out of hours doctor or care team to arrive, despite the very trying times and the Pandemic.

So just to have it well noted as I know you personally do First Minister, we are one happy family.   We have lost our dad but could not have asked for any better treatment and care in his final weeks, days, and hours. Thank you all sincerely forever grateful to the NHS.

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