"For him his wee dog was really important"

I would like to pass on my thanks for the truly patient centred care that a member of my family received in ward 7 of Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline recently. I am sure his next of kin will thank the ward separately but I thought I would send as I have worked in a specialist role within palliative care for many many years and feel we sometimes we overlook the positive experiences.

After a not so positive experience in another hospital I am pleased to say that his end of life care during the last week of his life was very good and focussed on their needs.

All of the staff in the ward were caring and compassionate, responsive to his needs ensuring he got the medicines he needed when he needed them and so on. I want to highlight this was not a specialist palliative care/hospice ward.

However I really want to highlight one aspect of care that may seem trivial or less important to many. This person has a wee dog which he was very fond of. The night before his death his wife was anxious about leaving him because she didn't want to leave the dog alone overnight. The nurse on duty dealt with this by telling her to bring the dog down so the three of them could be together. Now I know some folks will be horrified at the thought of a dog being brought in to hospital..... infection control etc. but this was exactly the right thing to do! He was in a single room so it didn't put anyone else at risk and for him his wee dog was really important. He died the next morning.

Thanks Again