"Caring and Compassionate Nurses"

There's been a lot in the press about poor hospital care, long waits to be seen at Casualty and nurses lacking care and compassion. None of this was evident to me at Sunderland Eye Infirmary. Yes, A&E was full to the rafters but I was seen by a triage nurse, diagnosed by a medic and admitted to Haygarth Ward within an hour or so. The consultant was at a clinic off site for the morning but had seen me by 1.30 pm and told me in lay terms what was happening to the eye, the options and the potential outcomes. The rest of the day was lying in a certain position. Haygarth nurses couldn't have been kinder or more caring during that time and it was much the same in theatre the next day. I had opted for a local anaesthetic and the theatre staff told me what they were going to do before they did it. A kindly nurse held my hand throughout and I was very grateful for that during the "this might sting a bit" moments. Overall this was a winning combination of medical staff who were effective, efficient and highly skilled at treating the retinal detachment with which I was admitted and nursing staff who were caring, compassionate and highly skilled at looking after my well being as an individual during a time when I felt particularly vulnerable. As for those other things, the menu had good options for me (I'm a veggie) and food was decent. I couldn't eat my chosen lunch because I had to maintain a certain posture after operation but as soon as I could sit up a nurse went off to get a sandwich for me which came on a plate and not a plastic pre pack thing. Parking isn't free but is it anywhere these days? As far as I was concerned, I was in to have my eye fixed and really everything else was just dead leaves to be swept away. I am grateful to the staff who so competently looked after me and for the fact this specialist hospital was so readily accessible and hasn't disappeared into a merged service somewhere else in the region which would have delayed my treatment and potentially cost me the sight in one eye.