"It is times like this that I can see how lucky..."

I am writing this from my bed at St. Michael's hospital in Bristol. I have been to many different hospitals for a variety of reasons and I would like to say how wonderful the care has been here and how prepared the staff have been. I can be a bit of a tricky patient, especially when undergoing surgery and in the past I have felt that I have not been listened to until the last minute and have then been left out of the loop regarding plans. Here, I knew what was happening every step of the way and felt that all of the nurses, doctors, anaesthetists were aware of my situation. The whole experience has been very reassuring and the nurses and staff on the ward are some of the best I have ever come across. I did not find a weak link in the team. They were all incredibly friendly and caring. It is times like this that I can see how lucky we are to have a service such as the NHS.