"Surgery and hospital stay"

I was referred urgently by my GP and ended up going to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, because they could offer me the earliest appointment.

At my first visit I was seen by a specialist nurse who took great care and diligence in examining my case. She took comprehensive notes, asked me a lot of questions and after her assessment called in a cosultant. He explained in great detail what the likely diagnosis is, what exams need to be conducted, and that the likely treatment would be surgery (but presented me with other options if surgery is something I want to avoid). When I told him the surgery seems like the better option, he explained how it will be conducted. After, the specialist nurse told me when it will be likely scheduled (and her estimation turned out to be pretty accurate). She was responsive via email regarding appointments and my questions in the next months.

No time was wasted. I was immediately sent for pre-operative assessment and scheduled for a scan and a pre-operative appointment.

At my scan appointment, the examining clinicians were amazing. They conducted the exam extremely thoroughly, explaining everything. At the end of the appointment they were remarkably kind and generous with their time as they answered all my questions about the surgery and my diagnosis.

I had one last pre-op appointment to go over the scans with another doctor and again talked to the consultant.

At the day of the surgery, I was kept informed by staff on the waiting times. The operating junior doctor visited and spend a generous amount of their time explaining the surgery and helping me make an informed decision about a choice I was faced with. After the surgery both operating doctors (consultant and junior doctor) stopped in recovery and explained what had happened and what they had found out during the surgery.

After the surgery I was treated by nursing staff both in recovery and the ward with the upmost kindness, care and respect. I simply have no words to express how wonderful they all were. The nursing staff on the night shift was monitoring me extremely carefully as some of my vitals were not quite right, but they acted without delay to bring them back to normal.

On the following day I was visited by the consultant and later by other doctors on the ward rounds.

I was kept informed of my discharge, and instructed on my medication and how to take care of my stitches.

I have yet to have a followup appointment, but I can confidently say, that I feel so much better and that having the surgery in Chelsea and Westminster was the best decision I could have made. The nurses and the doctors were all remarkable. There was not one interaction that left me feeling anything but looked after and confident in the expertise of the staff. At my first visit, I was overwhelmed with hopelessness, but every consecutive visit restored my faith that I can gain my health back.

The NHS is a gem and this hospital stands as proof.