"So well cared for while 100 miles away"

My partner suffered a very serious stroke at the end of April 2022. Due to the severity of the stroke he had to be transferred 100 miles from where we live to be in Glasgow Queen Elizabeth hospital. Firstly, the initial shock of what had happened was terrifying then to know he was going to be so far away from me added to this however to knew that he was being moved for the right reasons and hoped that he would be well cared for. I wasn’t wrong. 

All the staff in the Queen Elizabeth were fantastic not more so than those in ward 57 where my partner spent most of his time there undergoing intense therapies. Each member of the staff from the cleaners, dinner ladies, nurses therapists right up to the consultants treated my partner with so much care and respect. This not only mainly helped my partner and his recovery but also myself with being so far away. I had great confidence that in the days that I was not able to visit that he was receiving the best care possible. Unfortunately, the NHS as a whole is extremely understaffed and this was no different in ward 57 but no matter how bad there day was or how busy and overwhelming the workload was all the staff still found time to look after and care for my partner whenever required.

He struggled emotionally in the beginning and staff would just sit by his side and comfort him for however long it took, reassuring him that everything will be ok. The work and efforts put in by ALL staff and my partner really paid off and he was well enough to come home after 3 months. This was hard at first for him to adapt to as he had been so used to the daily routine of the hospital and the many staff that he seen and engaged with throughout the day it was now just the two of us at home. This was obviously because all the staff were such a huge part of his life for such a long and very difficult period for him. He really missed them all. He cannot find the words or actions to thank each and every one of the staff members involved in his recovery and let them know how appreciative we both are of them. He has insisted on driving back now 3 times to visit and say some thank yous and final goodbyes to as many staff as possible and even on those days they have taken time out of there busy day to speak to him. 

We both have luckily never had the need to require services from the NHS and never really understood the pressure that staff are currently under. There are just not enough staff, resources, hours in the day or pay at the moment for what the staff deserve. I admire each and every one of them who manages to on a daily basis put that uniform on, put a smile on their faces and help people unconditionally no matter how much stress they are under. 

We could go on and on, but to finish although my partner had his favourites to be fair each and every member of staff on ward 57 made my partners stay under the circumstances the best and most comfortable it could have been.