"I could not have been in better hands in any hospital, anywhere."

On a Saturday morning in late May 2022, I attended the ED (Emergency Department) at ARI (Aberdeen Royal Infirmary), feeling unwell, worried I may be having a myocardial infarction.  

I was seen at reception immediately and then triaged within 5 minutes. The triage nurse and her student nurse colleague were kind, welcoming, reassuring and swift in their action.  They immediately performed an ECG (electrocardiogram) and correctly diagnosed a STEMI (ST segment elevation myocardial infarction).  

I was rapidly transferred to ED resuscitation, where the registrar, consultant and nursing staff applied monitoring, got IV (Intravenous) access, gave me GTN (Glyceryl trinitrate) and morphine, and called cardiology.  This must have been all within 20 minutes of arrival.  The cardiology registrar then arrived, did a portable ECHO (echocardiogram) and excluded aortic dissection.  I was cared for attentively in the ED until the cath lab (Cardiac Catheterization laboratory) was prepared, and was then taken through, had an a-line inserted and then had an angioplasty, stent, and clot retrieval, all while another colleague was assessing and treating my pain throughout.  The subsequent care in CCU (Cardiac Care Unit) has been exceptional.

Every member of staff involved, from reception in ED, through the student nurses, nurses, cath lab radiographers, porters, doctors of all grades and specialties, HCSWs (Health Care Support Workers) and catering staff, have been kind, patient focussed, and miraculously, given the current pressures they are all facing, have at all times managed to give an impression of being unhurried, making me feel safe and cared for.  Added to that is the small detail of having successfully prevented me from dying.

I feel confident that the AHPs (Allied Health Professionals) and cardiac rehab nurses I am yet to meet will continue this excellent care.

I wanted to take the time to note my thanks and describe the truly excellent care I have been lucky to receive.  I know very well that health care does not always go well, and that the incomparable pressures of the last few years have made it nearly impossible to maintain the standards that healthcare professionals aspire to.  I can state without fear of contradiction, that I could not have been in better hands in any hospital, anywhere.

Thank you.