"Excellent care at every stage"

In June I had a basal cell carcinoma removed. From the initial referral by my GP to the Stirling Community Hospital to my appointment at the Forth Valley Royal Hospital everything went very well, I received excellent care at every stage.

At the Stirling Community Hospital they did an initial assessment of the skin condition, deciding that a minor operation would be needed to remove the carcinoma. The lady was very attentive, listened to my concerns and was very helpful in arranging the appointment at Forth Valley, accommodating my request for a particular date.

On the day of my appointment for the minor op my friend came with me to provide moral support. We arrived a few minutes early and waited maybe 5 minutes more than the appointment time to be seen. This was not a problem- hardly any time to wait really.

Although this is not a procedure I would wish on anyone, it went very well. I had an excellent team looking after me. Mary, Pam, who held my hand throughout, and Kirsty who explained the whole procedure to me and kept me informed about what was happening all the time.

I was also given, mostly verbal, information about after care. I'm not sure that I remembered everything that I was told although there was a small printed sheet I was given with aftercare information. A couple of days after the procedure I  was a bit concerned with how it was looking, not wanting to be a nuisance and calling the hospital for something  that may be trivial, I read the leaflet I had been given again and also searched the internet for further advice. I did find information that I found very helpful and reassuring on another NHS site and wondered if this could be added to the leaflet already given to patients at Forth Valley.