"Thank You For Saving A Life"

What I liked

The surgeons and the team operating on my mother were fantastic, bar one, who nearly gave her a fatal heart attack by telling her she was in grave danger of dying if she did not "take it easy"!! Thank you!

The Intensive care unit and High dependency units were fantastic - very through, very professional, very caring to both my mother and us - the relatives. My mother was not expected to pull through as her recovery was very chaotic, however the dedication of the staff in both these units can not be faulted and we will be forever grateful for all their efforts. In total my mother was in an induced coma for over a month, and we were always kept informed by the nurses of her progress in a factual but compassionate way. We have nothing but praise for those working in the two units.

The follow up from the district nurses was also seamless, which was important to my mother's continued recovery.

What could be improved

Once my mother was transferred to a normal ward - the standard of care dropped drastically. Agency nurses on wards 3/4 looked horrified at the her leg wound (she had a triple bypass and valve replacement), and refused to change her dressings. We tried to explain, that being a diabetic, it was important to ensure the dressings were clean and changed, but 2 nurses refused. In the end I asked for gauze's and packing and did this myself.

After being sent home, my mother then caught pneumonia, and went back to the hospital, on the orders of her surgeon, her care there again was sub-standard, and she desperately wanted to go home, and preferred to visit the Tropical disease hospital for intravenous antibiotics, rather than stay in the ward, even though she had difficulty in walking/breathing.

The standard of care in all wards should be as high and professional as seen in the two intensive care units.

Anything else?

Many, many thanks to the doctor's team, and the ITU and HDU teams, a credit to the hospital and it's patients.

Although some comments regarding the reception staff have been negative, we were fortunate in that every person we spoke to was kind, knowledgeable and helpful.

I have no doubt if I were to be a patient at the Heart Hospital, I would be thoroughly looked after.