A hospital to be proud of

I was born in London, but have now lived in the Isle of Man for many years.

Although we have a separate government and healthcare system here, we receive the same national newspapers and television broadcasts as mainland Britain.

These have conspired to convince many that NHS healthcare in the UK is uniformly unfit for purpose, broken, failed etc. not to mention being provided by ‘uncaring’ staff.

My experience at your local hospital has taught me not to believe all the negative reporting and I would like to tell the other side of the story.

I was in the Hastings area on a short break to attend a rock concert.

However, I was taken ill with severe upper abdominal pain and eventually had to call an ambulance.

A ‘fast-response’ paramedic arrived literally within minutes, swiftly followed by ambulance paramedics.

These lovely men controlled my pain and generally kept me together with their cheerful banter and encouragement on the way to the hospital.

Moreover, they contacted the precise area of expertise at Conquest ahead of my arrival, so that I could be admitted and commence treatment immediately.

So it came about that I spent three days on the Surgical Assessment Unit (Richard Ticehurst Unit), being treated for acute cholecystitis.

The treatment and attention which I received from Mr Miller and his team was nothing short of exceptional.

Every member of staff I met was professional, dedicated and caring; truly a credit to the hospital in particular and the NHS in general.

Thanks to such swift medical care, I recovered sufficiently to be able to leave hospital and return home to the Isle of Man after a few days.

Nevertheless, I was provided with ongoing medication, a dietary chart, and detailed medical reports to take to my own local GP, in order that continuing care and elective surgery can be arranged for me at hospital here.

Thank you again for the care which I received in the Hastings and St Leonards area; you have a local hospital to be proud of in the Conquest.

Kathryn Keeble

Douglas

Isle of Man

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