"You collectively saved the day"

A short time ago my partner had radical surgery for prostate cancer and although the surgery was successful he still has a catheter. He is due to have further surgery in just over a week in the hope that the catheter can be removed permanently. Today he had an appointment at Manchester Royal Infirmary, elective surgery department, for a pre-op assessment. Unfortunately, he awoke early this morning to find that his catheter had failed, there was a split in the pipe and as you can imagine we tried everything to effect a repair (for anybody who finds themselves in this predicament, gaffer tape does not work) and as we needed to get to the hospital for his appointment we resorted to strapping padding around the pipe and taking several changes of clothes with us.

On arrival at the second floor elective surgery department reception I explained the situation to the receptionist and she set the ball rolling in an effort to alleviate my partners distress and find a solution to his problem.

As insertion of the catheter had previously proved both extremely painful and difficult it needed a urology specialist to insert a new catheter and there was nobody in the department suitably trained. This is where the compassion, professionalism and sheer determination of the staff kicked in.

Seeing my partners obvious embarrassment and distress the staff invited both of us into the ward and settled us down out of the public eye, keeping us supplied with tea and coffee and began the search for somebody to sort out our predicament.

A flurry of conversations and telephone calls resulted in the arrival of a specialist urology nurse who investigated the situation and elicited permission from a urology doctor to insert a new catheter.

I cannot find the words to express my gratitude to all the members of staff, and there were several, involved in Saving the Titanic (you had to be there to appreciate the joke). You collectively saved the day and have earned our heartfelt thanks for your compassion, dedication, hard work and in several cases interrupted lunches. Thank you does not seem to be enough.