"Nasal polypectomy in the day unit"

I have been seeing my Consultant for about 8 or 9 years about my sinus problems - primarily nasal polyps and today they performed a polypectomy on me.

As someone who occasionally suffers from panic attacks just for visiting the GP, it is a strong testament to the quality of care that I received today from all the staff (especially the Consultant, the anaesthetist and the nurse who looked after me) that my levels of anxiety were surprisingly low and an experience which was unavoidably unpleasant was made as easy as could be.

All members of staff I came across had plenty of patience, time for questions, were friendly and worked hard to put my life at ease.

I felt that all members of staff I encountered manage an excellent balance of professionalism and genuine care for the patient.

There was plenty of time taken to ensure that every detail of what was being done was explained and the reasoning for it being done that specific way.

All risks were clearly explained as were the consequences of any potential problems.

All of the above applies to my previous visits as well as today.

I was very impressed with the Day Surgery unit as it is extremely busy and felt like it managed to combine production-line-like efficiency with humanity.

Having a nurse come in to the waiting room to give details of estimated times and lengths of operations to patents and relatives is fantastic and also helps to ease the nerves.

A lot of thought has obviously gone into the way that the unit is run.

From my experience, I feel that Salford Royal tries hard to provide the same level of service that you would get if you paid to have it done privately.

Obviously waiting times may be a factor, and not everyone is fortunate enough to get a room on the ward (I was!), but the general quality of the hospital (at least ENT and Day Surgery) seem excellent.

The overall atmosphere is clean, modern, professional and friendly.

The Consultant has always been incredibly patient and sympathetic to my problems as well as being very thorough and professional.

I get the impression that they seem to inspire a plenty of confidence and respect in those who they work with.

I was happy to have them operating on me and have confidence in their high levels of competence as both a surgeon and a clinician.

The anaesthetist did an excellent job at putting me at ease (and to sleep!)

Although I only met them today, I was happy to have them as my anaesthetist as they made me feel confident in their abilities.

The only things that could have been improved that come to mind are: - 1. There is no number given for me to call if I should have a problem out of day surgery hours.

2. It was a bit annoying to rush to the hospital for 7am only to be told that I wasn't scheduled to be operated on until 10.30am.