"Wonderful Staff"

I was recently admitted to Maple C ward at the Cumberland Infirmary for an operation on my leg. I arrived early morning very nervous having never had an operation before. I was immediately put at my ease by the lovely welcome from a Nurse who introduced herself & told me she was about to finish her shift but would see me that night & reassured me that everything would be fine. Then another equally lovely Nurse came to book me in, take all my details & do the required medical checks. Once this was finished she kept coming back to check on me, I confessed to her that I was really nervous & she reassured me & said “I’ll be here with you & you’ll be fine”. After this a succession of different medical professionals came to see me, a Senior Nurse Practitioner, Pharmacist, Anaesthetist, Doctor, the Surgeon with a Doctor & a Nurse, Physiotherapist etc. All were very caring & kind, very informative, extremely thorough & all of them put me at my ease so much so that I was so calm, that even I could not believe how calm I felt.

I think it was down to them all explaining everything that would happen & what I could expect that instilled my confidence in them all. Another lovely Nurse came in & chatted with me & the Senior Nurse kept me fully informed as there was a delay.

Unfortunately shortly after this a Bed Manager came to see me to tell me that my operation would have to be cancelled due to emergencies. While I was very disappointed this was in no way any reflection on the brilliant staff that had dealt with me that day. Shortly after this another wonderful Nurse brought me toast & coffee as by now it was 3:30pm & I’d had nothing to eat all day. It was the best toast & coffee I’d ever had.

On top of all this there were flooded roads & public transport had been cancelled so I wasn’t sure I could get home. The Senior Nurse was so understanding, she said if I couldn’t get home I could stay at the hospital, however, I later found that public transport was running again. As I left the hospital the Senior Nurse told me I still had a bed there if I needed it due to not being able to get home.

Although my operation was cancelled I had a really positive experience all thanks to the staff on Maple C Ward - every single one of them. The NHS should be so very proud of them all & think itself lucky that lovely kind people like them work there & the whole country should think itself lucky that we have the NHS. My husband & I have had several experiences of medical treatment in the USA & oh my goodness we are always glad to get home & be thankful for the NHS.