"A dedicated point of contact would have been helpful"

I recently had colorectal surgery to remove a Pilonidal sinus at Tiverton District Hospital (with follow up and after-care at the Exeter Walk-in centre as well as my GP surgery Mount Pleasant). 

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who I dealt with. I was extremely self-conscious about the surgery and the issue due to the intimate nature, but I can honestly say that the kindness and compassion everyone showed me made a very unpleasant and embarrassing issue bearable.

Firstly my surgeon Adele who was incredibly calm, empathetic and friendly. She really put my mind at ease. She made me feel like what I was going through was nothing to be ashamed of, while still taking me seriously and being very compassionate about the fact that for me this was a big deal and something I was self-conscious about. She also gave me tips on how to help avoid recurrence, without making me feel like I had caused the issue or done anything wrong.

I really appreciated how she took the time to listen to me in the pre-op and really involve me in decisions about my care, treating me with respect and dignity. 

I also really liked that despite being a consultant with a probably extremely busy caseload, she still remembered about a hen do I’d mentioned wanting to be well for. It made me feel like she really listened to me and took my care seriously, treating me as a person not just a case.

The op was completed really smoothly and I was told exactly what was happening throughout so I wasn't worried. I am so happy to have it sorted so thank you so much Adele!

I would also like to thank the many lovely nurses who looked after me both on the day of the operation and in the aftercare: Nix – the lovely nurse who held my hand in the op and was so so kind and caring; The team at Tiverton District Hospital who were kind, friendly and chatty despite being rushed off their feet; The wonderful Lucy at Exeter Walk-in Centre who was so empathetic and gave me clear guidance when I got confused about my aftercare and was upset and in a lot of discomfort following a bad bleed - she made me feel 100 times better and I really appreciated it; Finally the brilliant nursing team at Mount Pleasant Health Centre who were all so friendly and kind, helping me with wound dressing and making me feel comfortable and unashamed, helping me immensely with recovery.

My only slight criticism would be the system itself. Each individual themselves was doing their absolute utmost to give me the best possible experience, but I definitely felt that the system was stretched and that did impact on what could be offered.

Firstly I felt that, because I dealt with so many different people at so many different centres throughout the process, it was hard to get a consistent message and I often felt quite confused about what I needed to do.

It would have been really useful to have a single point of contact that was easy to get hold of to ask any questions I had throughout my case. While I totally understand that this is hard to do when things are stretched, having a dedicated member of staff who was consistent throughout the process would have made things a lot easier. For example there was a confusion about whether I was going to have a local or general anaesthetic, despite my surgeon and I agreeing on a local in my pre-op. I was then contacted by a different member of staff to do a telephone pre-op, who told me that I was in fact having a general and I presumed my surgeon had changed her mind. I called the hospital to check this and was again told it would be General.

When I arrived at the operation having not eating or drunk anything for a long period, and worrying about the General, my surgeon re-confirmed I was having a Local as discussed and written in my notes. While this confusion wasn’t anything major it did cause me unnecessary worry and confusion.

Aftercare was also a challenge, having to arrange all my follow up appointments myself and having to go to multiple venues for this. I was lucky that I had my Mum to look after me and drive me to appointments but if I had have been on my own it would have been a real struggle.

Again every individual I spoke to was absolutely lovely, but I got confused about what I needed to do with my aftercare and it was a bit of a challenge to find the answer to this. I also had to pay for a prescriptions for dressings which ended up being the incorrect ones.

I just feel if I had been told in advance what I would need to do to manage my wound then I would have been able to prepare better, and it would have been great if at least my first follow up appointment could have been booked for me in advance.

Again these are not big criticisms but I just felt a bit pushed from pillar to post trying to sort out aftercare and some support and again a dedicated point of contact would have been helpful here.

Throughout my life, I have been supported by the NHS on many occasions and truly believe it is a wonderful organisation that we should do everything we can to protect, but I was sad to see the pressure staff were under and felt that some processes were not as smooth compared to previous encounters and surgeries.

That being said, I really do feel so so appreciative to the NHS and everyone who worked so hard to support me through my surgery and aftercare in such a kind, empathetic and friendly way. You were really all amazing and doing such a fantastic job so a big big thank you.