NHS How fortunate we are?

[Lotty]

Hi Jacqui, give him our best wishes to get well soon. x

[Bluwise]

Wishing your husband a speedy recovery Jacqui. 

[Menthol]

Awful experience, Jacqui. Very best wishes to Mr Harvey.

[Marggie]

Yes, good to hear no bleed on brain.  Wishing a full and speedy recovery.

[Jacqui Harvey]

Thanks to everyone, he is now on the road to recovery.   Had a large lump of bone that had become loose, removed from his spine and also some bits of bone.  Operation took over 3 hours.  Lucky they do keyhole surgery now. He is not allowed to sit up for more that 15 minutes at a time and this for 3 weeks... Will drive him mad lying down.

[angela]

Lovely to hear such positive tales of NHS experiences. Those of us who work for the NHS do get very demoralised by the awful experiences detailed in the press. Undoubtedly, as in every walk of life there is good and bad, and I can't deny it exists, as I have seen with my own eyes things no one should have to endure, so it is very uplifting to read your praise, and I do still think we are extremely lucky with the treatment we get. There are times when I actually feel embarrassed to admit to being a nurse, which I never thought would happen 

[Ian]

Angela - oh - that is so sad - you should never have to feel that way.

We did have another experience in a "local" hospital - before Mum went to Wythenshawe for her heart surgery. We were visiting one Saturday afternoon - a jolly young chap came to take her BP - he was very nice - very chatty - and told us he was an agency nurse and had been called in to do a 12 hour shift.

A few minutes later Mum was eating a grape and got it stuck (swallowing / reflux have been recent problems) - after a few taps on her back - she was going blue. I dashed to the reception where I saw 5 people stood chatting / one or two on pc's. The scene then went like this:

My mother in law is joking - please can you come?
All of them look at each other - no-one moved.
She has gone blue - please come now!

Where is THE NURSE? one said.
OMG I thought - not one of these is a qualified nurse
Then the man who had taken her BP appeared - ran to her bed and it was sorted in seconds.

Afterwards I said "are you the only nurse on duty?" - yes - he said.
The others are admin / cleaners / and one auxiliary.

There were approximately 16 patients in that ward.

That is NOT the fault of the nursing staff

[mercury]

Barrie had a small stroke which paralysed him again last week and was admitted to The stroke unit in Blackpool. .Something that was not available after his first one 25 years ago when he had to spend 5 months on the ward from hell!!!! . What a difference!!  he had scans, bloods etc and results in 2 days.. "There wasn't even a scanner 25 years ago".. The treatment from the staff in there was top quality.. Really hard working and really caring... He was discharged 3 days later and is now recovering at home. We hope he will be back to his usual self in a few weeks. It was a terrible shock after all these years and just shows that "you never know". It was such a relief to be in The UK.. We had trouble enough giving his past medical history to the Doctors here. Don't know how we would have managed in Turkey with the language. My family have had to use The NHS for various health problems over the years and we have always been grateful and well looked after..

[Highlander]

Dear mercury

I cannot tell you how glad I am to read that Barrie is back home. Brenda will be so pleased to hear that news.

We both wish Barrie the speediest and fulliest of recoveries.

Lots of Love xxx

[Ian]

Anne - sorry to hear your news but so pleased Barrie is recovering - with out as his day nurse he will be back to his best sooner rather than later  

Best wishes to you both and we hope Barrie will continue his speedy recovery x