"A Truly Caring Consultant!"

I was admitted to Birmingham Heartlands Hospital Ward 24 last week.

The admission was to try a new medication for a complex sleep disorder I have been suffering with for the last 6 years.

The trial didn't go well as I reacted badly to the medication - which was always a possibility and hence why the admission was arranged in the first place.

My only criticism would be that I have reacted to so many medications in the past that I had with me the medication to help should I have a reaction to the medication. It is a medication I have access to at all times as I have known sensitivities to so many things anyway. But it seems the doctor who clerked me in the night before did not record this on my drug chart, nor did the pharmacist who I saw on the morning of the trial. So when I did react to the medication, I had to wait for a doctor to be called and attend the ward, check me over and then write up the medication before I could take any - even though I had it with me all the time!

Okay so back to the reason for this review - I was under the care of Dr Banerjee who made the time to come and see me in the late afternoon after having been informed of my reaction to the drug. He sat with me for some time and we talked about how devastating this condition is to my life and how hard it is to function on a daily basis.

He was genuinely caring and gave me time to offload on him at my own pace. I appreciated his compassion and use of physical contact to reassure me.

He also followed up our discussion with an email covering what we had discussed - which is something I find really helpful as I do have a mental health condition that can cause me to get so distressed I cannot recall specifics later on. We have continued this email discussion over the following days.

To find someone that happily goes that extra step is so refreshing.

I have had some seriously bad (mis)treatment at the hands of physical health and mental health doctors over the years; so to encounter such a genuinely caring and compassionate doctor has made such a difference and he deserves the public recognition.