A brave hospital volunteer who needed vital cancer surgery shared her poignant story at the October meeting of NHS Ayrshire and Arran.
The woman, named only as Phyllis, paid tribute to the staff who helped nurse her back to health on a video which was shared with those attending the NHS Ayrshire and Arran Board October meeting on Monday.
Phyllis, who provides support to the volunteer café and shop within Crosshouse Hospital, which she has done for many years, attended her GP with a worsening tremor in her hands at the request of her daughter.
Blood tests however revealed that she had bowel cancer and Phyllis wished to share the experience of her journey – not to focus on the impact this sort of diagnosis can have, but rather to highlight the prompt treatment and exceptional care she received from all healthcare professionals she met on her journey.
Her story highlights the importance of prompt and effective team working across Primary and Acute Care and how this can have a significant positive outcome on the patient’s journey.
The patient recalled: "I saw the doctor when I finished the treatment, he said I looked well and I said I felt great.
“I’m back doing my volunteering at Crosshouse and it’s as if nothing happened. But everyone from the very beginning when I first saw the doctor at the assessment unit for my first blood transition right through until I went home on the Sunday was a great experience, it really was.
“Everyone was so helpful and so nice. I’d like to do it all over again - that’s how good an experience I had. Everything was done like clockwork. It really was.”
NHS chiefs say sharing such positive feedback with staff is just as important as sharing learning from negative experiences as lessons can be learned from both good and bad examples of care.
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