Hi all,
I have written a few things on different groups about what I am going through but I wanted to put this general reply rather than reply to an individual person and maybe upset them, that is having a bad experience with hospital care,
I am very lucky that I live only four or five minutes walk from the Beacon cancer unit in Taunton Somerset, I have seen a few people on here say they have had very bad care and feel they are being treated like a number, I feel for those people and all I can say maybe the further you go to the big cities the worse it is,I can honestly say I have had nothing but the best care from start to finish I am treated as if I am the only patient they have,even with lockdown I have been investigated two or three times for different problems with no hanging around there was one time I told my doctor that I thought waiting for a scan three weeks was a long time to wait when Radio treatment did not work, if there was anything wrong we needed to know right away, my doctor got me a scan within two weeks.
I can not praise my doctors and team enough, and the nurses that took care of me the couple times I was admittted to hospital, yes with the injection it can be all over very quickly but that does not mean they are treating you like cattle as I read one person say on here, it is simply to give you your treatment and get you home, hospitals are not the best place to hang around in if you are not well in the first place or your immune system is down.
I get followup phone calls sometimes when I don;t even expect them to check on me and if my team are not happy they get me into hospital right away.
The last thing anyone needs when they are having treatment for cancer is poor care care,I have had nothing but the best care.
Someone wrote that they drove a hour and half for treatment and it was cancelled and no one told her, I know that is very bad but maybe with lockdown going on it would be a good Idea to call the hospital ahead of time to double check your appointment is still going ahead.
I have written this not to rub salt in the wounds of anyone having a bad experience but to say that not all hospitals are the same and I have had nothing but the best care at Musgrove Park Hospital Taunton Somerset.
Hi
Thank you for sharing a positive story; many on here do have a really good relationship with their oncology team though of course treatment for some is really quite challenging.
For my wife her treatment in oncology has been really good, however for those that do struggle with some miscommunications one thing that can be helpful is to check with the patient advice and liaison service (PALS) at the hospital. They can often sort our problems really quickly.
<<hugs>>
Steve
