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Blog:What mattered to ME!

16/05/2019

 

Imagine being rushed to hospital, unconscious and on the brink of death. That’s what happened to Philippa* last year: “When I eventually came back to life, I had no idea what had happened, but I was welcomed by friendly nurses!”

Philippa was admitted to a local hospital under the Neuro ward and was unconscious for more than 18 days.

She was very confused when she came round. She says “The nurses on the department were very warm and gentle and all worked together as a team, this was obvious by the way they spoke to each and other and the way the handover was done. There was no bickering. This was really important to me.

“My food and medication was always on time and the nurses communicated really well with me - explaining what I had been through. They told me that I needed to take things slowly, and that I had undergone 3 separate operations!

I had lots of tests from speech and language therapists and they didn’t make me feel rushed. Time was taken to make sure I was ready to be discharged and I was even given cooking exercises to make sure I was ready to tackle basic daily living tasks!”

These small things can make a really big difference, the communication from staff, medication and food, all contributed to a positive experience for Philippa. She said “If the nurses were not working as a team, this would have impacted my recovery, as I would not have understood what was going and things would not have been explained to me. Overall I would say this department is very outstanding, as they all work together as a team, are very friendly and helpful to the patients”.

We’re really pleased to hear such positive feedback about Queens Hospital from one of our volunteers who was recently in hospital. She wanted to tell us about her experience and what mattered the most to her - what things made her admission in hospital a better experience.

Here at Healthwatch Barking and Dagenham are here to listen to YOUR views and experiences of health and care services. Our role is to use the evidence from local people to challenge service providers and commissioners (those who pay for services) to ensure these issues are considered when planning or re-designing services. We also like to share what’s working well, by sharing this, we can ensure good practice can be implemented in other service areas or departments.


Have you or loved one been an inpatient recently? What was the service like that you received? Were there things that were either outstanding, or could be improved?   Small or big? It all matters to Healthwatch. Please get in touch with us and share your story!

*Name has been changed to protect the identity


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Website www.healthwacthbarkinganddagenham.co.uk

Email: Info@healthwatchbarkinganddagenham.co.uk

Telephone: 0800 298 5331

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Healthwatch Barking and Dagenham
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