March already and what a start to our year; never have my wife and I spent so much time involved with Worthing Hospital. The content of this column is about the care we both received which brings the NHS into perspective.
In January my wife was rushed into Worthing with an inflamed gall bladder and then the day after she returned to work I had a fall at home and tore my quadriceps tendon. It was Friday 13th when I had my accident so maybe it was a portent. I am writing this on Friday 13th March under strict instructions from my wife not to move about the house. With a brace on my leg and a pair of crutches movement is limited.
Most of us, thankfully, have limited dealings with the NHS. For the bulk of our lives we see our GP or maybe visit an NHS dentist. We all moan about the problems with making appointments at our local surgery. The appointments regularly run late so we have to sit in the waiting room trying to work out who is ahead of us. At the local level provision of services is based on the number of GP’s and nurses available against the number of patients registered. It is very much controlled by financial restrictions.
It is a different matter when a crisis occurs. The emergency services respond and the level of care is rapidly increased. My wife was dealt with quickly and with great care and consideration by the paramedics. Taken into A&E she was dealt with by highly skilled professionals who made sure she had the minimum of stress. The operation was quickly planned in and carried out. The nursing staff on the wards looked after her with kindness and a gentle manner.
My experience was much the same. I was in considerable pain after my fall and, I am told, in shock. The paramedics dealt with me in such a way as to calm me and give me the confidence to allow them to manoeuvre me upright and then onto a trolley. Once I was in A&E, in the same cubicle as my wife a few weeks earlier, I was looked after with the same level of kindness and professionalism.
Once I had the diagnosis my operation to repair the tendon was quickly planned in. I went through the Chanctonbury Suite which is a day surgery department at Worthing. It is a times like this you are confronted with the full power of the NHS. The surgeons, registrars, anaesthetists and nursing staff that were there to prepare me, operate and provide post-op care is some impressive. Every member of staff that interacted with me was kind, concise, amusing and instilled confidence as well as lowering my anxiety. I had not had an operation since my appendix removal aged 5.
No matter what the politicians say or do regarding the NHS, it will always be a political football. The NHS Trusts may be run inefficiently by poor management. Whatever we think or believe is wrong with the NHS it is the staff who make up the medical teams that make the NHS what it is. Despite the politicians, the management, the financial constraints and general tinkering from unelected persons the NHS provides a level of care second to none when the need is there.