The NHS deserves every accolade it gets

I STARTED having sharp shooting pains in the back of my head. They came in ones, sometimes twos, and momentarily, they hurt.

After a few weeks, I thought it prudent to seek a bit of reassurance and rang my doctor.

It’s now routine to tell the receptionist what your symptoms are and she passes them on to the doctor who decides whether to phone you or not.

The doctor phoned me instantly, asking me to go in and see him. He put me through a barrage of tests – heart, lungs, hand strength etc. He said something about having a brain scan to check for a bleed on the brain. Scary stuff.

He wrote me a letter to hand in. bid me go home and he would send an ambulance. It was 1.30pm. It didn’t turn up until gone 8pm. By this time I assumed that the QMC clinic I was heading for would be closed and I would have to spend the night. So I refused and said I would take a taxi the next day at 7.30am and so I did.

I arrived at 7.50am and was taken to a four-bedded unit run by a well-oiled machinery of nurses who showed me to a bed.

It took awhile to realise I was actually booked into this ward as a patient.

A doctor was assigned to me and he questioned me about my medicines and how I reacted to them.

At 11am prompt, we were served a welcome cup of tea, and I was shown to a brown leather easy chair which lowered or tilted by your own hand-held remote control. The room was calm, peaceful and I nodded off.

I was woken at noon and asked to choose a lunch. I went for steak and kidney pie. The meal was absolutely delicious.

I was booked to have an ECG, which was fine, and there then followed a three-hour lull, during which I again fell sleep. Finally at 6pm, I was taken to have my scan. No problem and I was taken back to wait for the doctor to review the results. The report was delivered and yes, they DID find a brain! It was explained by the doctor in simply terms… essentially there was no bleed on the brain and I was finally free to head for home.

I cannot tell you how kind and caring the nurses and doctors were. And well done too to the catering staff and cleaners who never stopped. As for our health service: superb. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all.

Joy Jackson

Colwick