"Made to feel very safe at a frightening time"

I spent a week on Compton Ward in May, having been admitted, via A&E, with a small bowel obstruction.

Staff in A&E listened carefully to my concerns, since I had undergone surgery for the same condition ten years previously, and reacted quickly and calmly, which gave me re-assurance that I was in good hands and being taken seriously.

Once on the ward, nursing staff, each with their individual personalities and nursing styles, were consistent in making me feel safe.

Registrars in the General Surgery team were somewhat variable in bedside manner, and, when the likelihood of my needing further surgery was raised, I would have preferred a direct dialogue with the consultant in charge, to hear their rationale. Had surgery been necessary, perhaps I would eventually have had this conversation, but, for a while, I felt that I was not being sufficiently involved in decision-making.

As it happens, a more conservative management of my condition was successful and I left hospital after one week, confident that, should I return with the same symptoms, I can rely on compassionate and clinically-appropriate care.