"The regional Pediatric Cardiac Unit "

I have recently posted a story on this site, one that from my point of view adequately portrays the worst of the NHS, and certainly the most dangerous, so time for a positive one!

My daughter had open surgery as a baby under the care of Mr Andrew Parry ( Pediatric cardiac surgeon) and Alison Hayes ( pediatric Cardiologist ) at the Bristol Hospital for Children, she has two operations, within a few months of each other, this was in 1999. Daughter was being treated at the Cardiac Unit in the University Hospital Wales, trying to keep her stable and get her ready and well enough for surgery, when they told me that they would like to send her to Bristol for her operation.

It was on the back of the baby heart scandal, and I panicked, I actually refused. Dr Dirk Wilson ( pediatric Cardiologist, University Hospital Wales) a wonderfully warm and very skilled Cardiologist said that a new surgeon had been appointed, he is highly skilled, would I at least go and meet him, and so I did.

He walked into the ward, into the room where my daughter and I were and he was so terribly polite, so calm and confident, without being cocky or dismissive, and I just had an immediate feeling of safety, certainly for my daughter, and here we are, 14 years later and although we moved away, far away for many years to the Highlands of Scotland, and have now moved to Kent, when my daughter was showing signs of a heart 'problem' and after 4 missed diagnosis here between our GP and the Hospital, I was able to call Andrew Parry's wonderful secretary Christine, who arranged for me to come to Bristol, even though I am close to London and its clearly out of my area where we got a diagnosis, and are now going to have more surgery, under the same team.

Tomorrow we travel to Bristol to meet Mr Parry and have pre op tests, and once I walk through those doors of that Hospital, I will take a huge sigh of relief, because these people, this team of Parry's, they know their stuff, Alison Hayes and her expert MRI and Echo-cardiogram analysis, Andrew Parry, who saved my daughters life twice, and soon to be three times, and ahhhh Christine, what does any successful Surgeon need?

He/She needs a 'Christine' and to her I am so grateful, she listened to my concerns for my daughter when no one, NO one else did, suffice to say, she had a big big hand in saving my daughters life.

Kudos to you all at the Children s Hospital.