"Staff were wonderful"

I visited this clinic for a D&E at 19weeks after finding out i was 5 weeks further along than i had thought i was. From start to finish every member of staff i encountered was lovely.

As i got to the clinic it was difficult to find parking, as most of the spaces are residential spaces. I also noticed outside were a few protesters, up until that point i hadnt been nervous about what i was doing at all, but there was a side entrance to the property and i bypassed them so they couldnt say anything to me or hand me anything, the first thing the receptionist did upon my arrival was apologize for them and tell us the same people had been outside almost every day since 2014 and that they are doing their best to move them on permanently.

The wait for my appointment was a little delayed, I was due to be seen at 1020am and didn't get seen until 1050am, because I had already had my consultation at another clinic, it was a pretty simple start.

After about 15-20 minutes I was taken upstairs to get changed and have the Dialpan put in, this was a fairly quick procedure, no more uncomfortable than a smear test and was all over within 5 minutes. All the nurses were lovely and tried to keep me as dignified as they could, I wasn't uncovered until the surgeon was ready to go and covered again as soon as he was done.

I was told I would then wait for 3 hours for the Dialpan to work, and was moved to a recliner room with a privacy curtain and my support person was called up to come and sit with me while I waited. I was periodically checked on by a couple of different nurses, some would come to take BP and temp and others just to make sure I was okay. The only gripe is say I had with this process is that my support wasn't offered any refreshment during my wait, even though a coffee lounge is 2 doors across. It would've been nice if they had allowed her to have a drink at least.

There was a delay with getting into theatre for an unknown reason, I ended up waiting almost 5 hours from when my Dialpan was placed until I was taken down.

The procedure itself came and went very quickly, the staff were all very accommodating and caring doing their best to take my mind off things, and before I knew it, I was awake in recovery half an hour later.

I was offered tea and biscuits and plenty of water or squash while recovering and then moved back up to be with my support.

Overall the staff were so easy to be around, and at no point did I feel overwhelmed by what was going to happen. They even came by to see me before they went home to say goodbye which I thought was really nice.

Much as i dont want to go through the experience again, if i had to id be happy to return there.