"Superlative Care"

Anything else?

I was referred for Carpal Tunnel Decompression under General Anaesthetic due to anxiety.

Usually, places caring for physical health are poorly equipped to deal with mental health.

By the time I went to book in, at 11.30am my anxiety was severe and the rule on the Day Case Ward is that visitors aren't permitted as there simply isn't room. The receptionist advised this & then went to speak to nursing staff who returned and upon seeing me (hyperventilating, uncontrollable tremors, pacing, tearful, etc) took me to a private room, allowing my mother to stay with me.

The anaesthetic visited, he could not have been more kind or more patient with me, or tried harder to reassure me. He made sure I was first to theatre so as to lesson the length of time I was in such a terrible state.

A nurse stayed with me from the ward all the way until I was back with the anaesthetist and about to be sent to sleep, holding my hand the entire trip down to theatre. The porter was a wonderfully friendly lady too.

The surgeon also did his best to reassure me.

Before the operation everyone was incredibly kind & respectful of my condition.

They also allowed my mother to accompany the entire time until I was asleep.

When I awoke in recovery I was immediately asked if I needed any pain relief and then another nurse sat & chatted with me until I was ready to return to the ward.

When I began to feel uncomfortable I was given pain relief extremely quickly and I was wheeled back to the ward an hour later, left to nap a little until I felt ready to get up & dress. I wasn't rushed, I was cared for, there was no waiting around for my meds, they were ready when I was.

After being quite ill some years ago and spending a month in hospital (not Boston Pilgrim) I can honestly say I received far, far, better care in those few hours that day, than I did in the whole of that month.

I find my anxiety extremely embarrassing and humiliating, it is awful to be unable to control it and it is awful to not know how you will be treated, so to have every single member of staff at Boston Pilgrim treat me with nothing but patience, care and understanding was a genuine delight. There are rules in place for a reason, but it's also important to change them when they are inappropriate, had they not allowed me to have someone with me I simply would not have coped. It's hard to express the extent of my gratitude to them. They were beacons of brilliance.