"The Wonderful Service Received"

Treatment

Due to tight new shoes my heel tendon was cut. The open wound would not heal or dry up. Unfortunately, it turned into a deep ulcer wound before seeking medical attention.

As I had a pre-Diabetic condition, I was sent to the Diabetic Foot Clinic, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh.

We met several nurses at the Diabetic Foot clinic to start treatment, but Amanda was the nurse we saw for over a year who treated my ulcer.

Amanda was brilliant. She was very professional in her attitude, caring and her knowledge in her field of work was impressive – example - she knew what type of bandages to use at the different stages of the ulcer treatment and the different reaction the bandages would have on the ulcer. We even tried some new ‘silver’ coated bandages that came out onto the market, and this had a great effect on the shrinking of the ulcer. Her knowledge to use maggots to eat the necrotic skin on the ulcer rather than scrapping the skin off was a god send as the pain would have been unbearable! The maggots did their job, and a lot of dead skin was removed from the ulcer.

The ulcer was very painful to live with (was unable to sleep due to the extreme pain at night). Nurse Amanda prescribed a foot protection boot, and an air bag shaped into a foot for bed usage. I was very grateful for these support items.

Amanda worked closely with the department doctors and my GP to prescribe pain relief medication as the pain was very bad. We eventually found the right pain medication that helped immensely.

Amanda using her experience was able to spot infections on the ulcer and took samples swaps of the ulcer. And on all occasions, she was proven right and she got prescription for the infections. Again, very impressed by her knowledge of the potential areas of concern – like infections.

Amanda went out of her way and was very accommodating to make appointments to suit my availability being partially sighted I required assistance from my wife who worked late during the week. Amanda stayed behind on her own time to cater for this – really great service from her and much appreciated by me and my wife.

Overall, a great service by the NHS staff – nurses, doctors, and GP. A personal thank you to nurse Amanda Vardy for her dedication and skills for getting me through what was a dramatic year in my life in treating and healing my foot ulcer.