"Caring staff at Broadgreen Hospital Breast Unit"

My Mum had a routine mammogram breast screening at Broadgreen Hospital Breast Unit.

We had phoned to let them know that Mum was a wheelchair user, and that I would be attending with her as her carer. The staff on the phone's were very understandable and assured us the screening and unit would be accessible and they could make adaptations for Mum, including a chair she could sit in for her mammogram, plus that I would be welcome to attend with her, and be as involved as we wished, as they appreciate the important role carers do.

On the day, we arrived and were greeted by two lovely staff on the reception, who instead of making Mum wait at reception to give in her details, had us take a seat and then came and sat and spoke to Mum directly, which was greatly appreciated.

The mammographer then came and greeted Mum and asked her if she could stand up for the test, which we explained again that she could not, and we assured them that we had phoned to make them aware of Mum's situation. She apologised that the message hadn't gotten to her, and that we would have to wait for a few more minutes for the accessible room to be ready for us, which was not a problem, we'd only been waiting for 10 minutes.

Mum was called in a few minutes later, and due to the care and compassion shown by the staff so far, we decided that Mum would be fine to go ahead without me, but that the nurse may need to come and get me from the waiting room, if Mum needed assistance that I usually provide (e.g/ getting changed into a gown), but this wasn't needed, as shortly later, she came back out and said that the staff had been really lovely, accomodating and patient, as well as apologetic when the seating position had caused Mum some pain.

While I was waiting, I could hear what sounded like one of the receptionists being trained by the other, and the conversation seemed like perhaps it was the new receptionists first day. It was lovely to hear the conversation. The new staff member asked 'what is the best part of doing this job?', to which the trainer said being able to give anxious women some comfort and a smile. We wish this new member of staff the best of luck in her role, and thank the receptionist training her, for putting patients first.

Thankyou all for making what could have been an uncomfortable and anxious time, relaxed and even humourous! As a family that has had some horrendous experiences of 'care', your unit was a shining example of how to get it right.

Posted by Healthwatch Liverpool on behalf of service user and her daughter.