"Macmillan Unit and care for elderly"

I am writing to tell you of the excellent services my family have received from Milton Keynes Hospital over the past year or so. We have had experience of several wards and your A and E Department and all have been particularly good. My father in law was a patient in ward 15 for several weeks over last summer. He celebrated his 100th birthday there in August. He had several medical difficulties, with his heart in particular. The staff in ward 15 were wonderful. Nothing was too much trouble and they showed real care and interest. His medical treatment helped him to improve greatly. Unfortunately, complications led him to have to transfer to ward 21 where he was nursed following a serious operation. He never fully recovered from this and died in September, but the end of life nursing care and general care in ward 21 were wonderful. The family were kept fully informed. He had a dignified, peaceful and pain free end to his long life. In both wards he was treated with great respect and every necessary treatment was given, despite his great age. My wife was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer in September 2012. She died in November 2013. She was under the care of your hospital’s Macmillan Unit. Again, we could not have asked for better treatment or more care. All the staff at the unit deserve praise for their commitment and dedication. We were treated with great care, respect, honesty, expertise and good humour by everyone we came across. Every treatment possible was tried – we were never given false hopes, but felt confident that everyone was doing their best to prolong my wife’s life. This resulted in good quality of life until October 2013 and we are both so grateful for that. Allison leads an excellent unit and I am so grateful to her and all her staff. My wife was admitted to the hospital in October and ended up in ward 16. Again, she was treated with great care and respect, and was able to return home for her last couple of weeks with excellent support from community services. She also died without pain and peacefully. Over the year we have had to visit your Accident and Emergency Department on 3 occasions with medical emergencies. Although the department was very busy on each occasion, we were quickly prioritised, assessed and treatment started, resulting in admission to hospital on 2 occasions. Despite being very busy, staff were always courteous, reassuring, respectful and effective, working very well as a team. It has been a traumatic year! I have visited your hospital on far too many occasions, but wish to complement all the staff that I have come in contact with. From the cleaners to the consultants, they are all a credit to your organisation – excellent team work and real commitment to excellent care.