In praise of emergency services

We would like to express our praise for ambulance, emergency, critical care, HDU and neurosurgery at Auckland Hospital for the fantastic support, empathy and help they gave us during a medical episode. After dialling 111 my husband received great support from the operator when he found me unconscious and totally unresponsive on the floor in our house. Ambulance and Fire staff arrived and took me to Auckland Hospital Emergency. My husband was taken into the hospital by friends and our sons joined him at the hospital later in the evening. The information and support given to my family and me was superb and we can’t thank everyone enough, particularly after a lot of criticism about the health system recently. In early November I had surgery on my brain after a long consultation with a registrar from the neurosurgery team. We were never hurried, and we were given every opportunity to seek advice. Many thanks to the neurosurgery team. While preparing in the hospital for surgery, I can’t express enough amazement at the information that was given to me every step of the way. Thank you all. I had MRIs at what has been a critical time for that department and CTs and X-rays throughout the whole process.

The nurses were beyond kind and supportive and the orderlies and people who served the food were fantastic. Thank you all too. I do understand that everyone’s experience can be different. This started off as an emergency and was totally unexpected but was all made so much easier to cope with due to the wonderful medical care and support we received. Nicki Winn.