"Overnight admission after a spinal Angiogram"

An eye opener! My respect goes to the hard working staff on Moorgate ward where I witnessed constant care being given to the patients around me!

I am not including the initial support for myself by the Neurology consultants and the actual Angiogram - This was all superb and I intend to complete separately.

This review is based around the one night in Moorgate ward - I was completely fine after my angiogram and was in and out of sleep from the early evening to 8.00 the following morning. Initially I felt uncomfortable with very poorly people around me, I have always had a fear of hospitals and been fortunate enough to avoid any admittance up to now.

After just 5 or 10 minutes I dropped my fears and found myself very inquisitive to the patients symptoms around me and the care they received from the various staff on the ward. May I say how much respect I have for our NHS and the service provided free of charge. There was clearly a shortage of resource early evening and a nurse had been called from Intensive care to assist. It was apparent the ward was grateful for the support and this staff member was happy to help, very patient, very polite and very knowledgeable of the patients needs! I witnessed the hand over to night shift and she was very thorough, bless her she stated parts of the paperwork were alien to her but the next nurse ensured this was completed correctly! Through the night he checked my blood pressure and I would then watch and listen as he completed the necessaries with the other 5 patients in my bay, He was respectful and efficient and on many occasions called to assist in other bays once he had finished in mine. I was surrounded by very poorly people, most could not speak, some could respond with a squeeze, they were clearly here for a duration and reliant on the expert care of the ward - I was humbled, I was grateful I knew I was being discharged in the morning, I was very sad for these patients, I was in awe of these staff I was witnessing!

The day shift arrived with a colourful entrance and immediately introduced themselves asking me basic questions on my name preference and how I was feeling. They made me very comfortable and again I witnessed a very professional hand over. Within minutes I watched them treat the patients with checks, changes, washes, assurances - overall a professional and extremely efficient service.

In this day and age we find it all too easy to complain when things go wrong or not to expected standard, yet unfortunately we rarely give credit where due and take a step back to look at the overall picture.

As already mentioned, I was humbled and educated in just one night. I am proud of the NHS, I was extremely proud of the ward's staff and hard work. My only concern was how busy they were and dare I say under resourced at times.

Thank you for treating me with respect, but more importantly supporting those less fortunate in my ward with the dignity and efficient manner I witnessed!!