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Superb care at Borders General Hospital

Posted By John-with-three-daughters

"Superb care at Borders General Hospital"

About: Borders General Hospital / Accident & Emergency Borders General Hospital / Intensive & Critical Care Scottish Ambulance Service / Emergency Ambulance

(as the patient),

I'd not been feeling 100% for some time, with breathlessness on exertion, and a session at the Borders Chest Pain Clinic led to my being placed on the waiting list for an angiogram.  Over the next week my symptoms worsened significantly, culminating in a middle-of-the-night 999 call and ambulance journey to Borders General Hospital, where A&E staff suspected something rather more than simply angina. I was given an injection of anti-coagulant, and a subsequent CT scan revealed a number of blood clots on my lungs, plus some associated heart damage.  Treatment began straight away, and I spent the next 4 days in the High Dependency Unit in Ward 5, after which time my condition had improved sufficiently for me to be discharged - a relieved man sent home to a relieved wife and family!

There is no doubt that I owe my life to the prompt diagnosis and treatment from the paramedics and the staff at A&E; and equally that my initial recovery was helped enormously by the skill and care of the Ward 5 staff - medical, nursing, and support - and their friendliness, the way they kept me informed about what was happening and why, and the (often quite sick!!) sense of humour that characterised our interactions.  I cannot thank them all enough, on behalf of myself and my family.

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Responses

Response from Gareth Clinkscale, General Manager - Unscheduled Care, NHS Borders 5 years ago
Gareth Clinkscale
General Manager - Unscheduled Care,
NHS Borders

Submitted on 27/07/2018 at 13:11
Published on Care Opinion at 14:48

Hi John-with-three-daughters,

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and hope you are well on the road to recovery. I was delighted to read about your experience in the Emergency Department and then ward 5. Both teams provide an excellent service to some of our sickest patients. It is also good to know your sense of humour was maintained through what must have been a very stressful time for you.

I will share your feedback with both teams and am sure it will make a few of my colleagues weekend!

Best wishes,

Gareth

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Update posted by John-with-three-daughters (the patient)

Hi Gareth, thanks for your response. Please emphasise to both teams that I really enjoyed (yes! that is the appropriate word...) my time with them.

Regards,

Response from Gareth Clinkscale, General Manager - Unscheduled Care, NHS Borders 5 years ago
Gareth Clinkscale
General Manager - Unscheduled Care,
NHS Borders

Submitted on 27/07/2018 at 16:42
Published on Care Opinion at 16:53

I certainly will!

Gareth

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Response from John Alexander, General Manager, Mobile Testing Units, Scottish Ambulance Service 5 years ago
John Alexander
General Manager, Mobile Testing Units,
Scottish Ambulance Service

Submitted on 30/07/2018 at 10:01
Published on Care Opinion at 10:37

Hi John-with-three-daughters

I was equally please to hear of your experience and glad to hear that you are on the road to recovery. I noted as many of these events do that it started with Paramedic intervention and it is always good to be a part of something which has a positive outcome, I will share this around my teams.

Thanks again for sharing your journey.

John

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Response from Lynne Boyle, Senior Charge Nurse, Medical admissions ward, Borders General Hospital 5 years ago
Lynne Boyle
Senior Charge Nurse, Medical admissions ward,
Borders General Hospital

Submitted on 02/08/2018 at 15:17
Published on Care Opinion at 15:32

Dear John-with-three-daughters

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us from your time in Ward 5. It's great to hear that you had a high standard of care throughout and that everything was explained clearly to you. Obviously hospital admission is stressful for any patient and your experience would undoubtedly be frightening but it's great to hear that you ultimately had a good experience in our care. In relation to the (sometimes sick) humour - they do say laughter is the best medicine!

I hope you are now recovering well and feeling much better.

regards

Lynne

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