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The NHS saved my life last week

Posted By reedworks

"The NHS saved my life last week"

About: NHS 24

(as the patient),

The NHS saved my life Last week.

On that day, my left leg turned blue and doubled in size so I was sent to Arbroath A&E at about 6pm. There, I was seen within ten minutes by kind, helpful, knowledgeable and funny staff. The Doctor even picked up on my brand of humour and bantered with me which went a long way to keeping me calm. The next day, I had a scan and was given medications, pain killers, sexy stockings, follow-up appointments and complete thorough medical care all without hassle. On both days the staff were wonderful. Arbroath infirmary staff, you are fabulous. NHS24, also fabulous. Springfield East Medical, again top notch care from you all. I feel so grateful.

A week has now passed and although I'm still in pain, am managing to do many of my normal light activities (a bit slowly) and am making daily progress. Thanks for all of your help and patience in answering all of the silly questions I asked. Working in the medical field is tough and all of the lovely people who do this job should be praised.

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Responses

Response from Shona Lawrence, Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care, NHS 24 8 years ago
Shona Lawrence
Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care,
NHS 24

Submitted on 29/10/2015 at 09:01
Published on Care Opinion at 09:11

picture of Shona Lawrence

Dear Reedworks

Thank you for your story via Patient Opinion. I am sure this would have been a frightening experience for you. I am very pleased that you are making daily progress and I hope that this continues.

Your positive comments and heartfelt praise for the staff members who provided care to you were heartening to read. I was particularly pleased to see that you mentioned staff from NHS 24 within your posting and I thank you for this. Here at NHS 24 we always strive to provide patients and callers to our service with a positive experience. We also work very closely with our Partner Health Boards to ensure that patient who require onward care are referred appropriately and promptly.

Thank you again for your positive feedback and I do hope that you are back to full health soon.

Should you wish to share any further information with NHS 24, I would be pleased to hear from you. Some additional detail would enable me to identify the staff members involved in your care and to share your positive comments directly with them. I can be contacted on 0141 337 4582 or by email at patientaffairs@nhs24.scot.nhs.uk

With kind regards

Shona

Shona Lawrence

NHS 24 Patient Affairs Manager

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Response from Shona Lawrence, Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care, NHS 24 8 years ago
Shona Lawrence
Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care,
NHS 24

Submitted on 29/10/2015 at 12:32
Published on Care Opinion at 13:07

picture of Shona Lawrence

Dear Reedworks

Thank you very much for taking the time to telephone me to provide some additional detail to enable the staff members within NHS 24 who were involved in your care to be identified. I will ensure that your positive feedback is received by them.

Thank you also for your observation and positive comments in relation to the skill of our staff in managing calls from patients who, at the time of their call to our service, may be in pain, worried or distressed. Our highly skilled staff are required at all times to utilise their listening skills when dealing with patients and callers over the telephone as we do not have the benefit of face to face contact with our patients. Thank you for being so kind in taking the time to acknowledge this.

I do wish you a full and speedy recovery.

With kind regards

Shona

Shona Lawrence

NHS 24 Patient Affairs Manager

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Response from Tracey Passway, Clinical Governance and Risk Team Leader, Clinical Governance and Risk, NHS Tayside 8 years ago
Tracey Passway
Clinical Governance and Risk Team Leader, Clinical Governance and Risk,
NHS Tayside

Submitted on 29/10/2015 at 15:36
Published on Care Opinion at 16:23

Dear reedworks,

thank you so much for taking the time to tell us about your experience at Arbroath Infirmary. It's always a pleasure to receive such positive praise and feedback from patients. The clinical and nursing team will really appreciate your comments.

I am pleased to hear that you are making daily progress and hope it's not too long until you are back to full health.

Gail Smith

Lead Nurse, NHS Tayside (Angus)

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