Honestly

Now I've got over the euphoria of that good news I can tell you a little of what went on in the consulting room.  I told my consultant I was glad to see him and that he was still there, bearing in mind that NHS morale - particularly at that hospital - was obviously low.  He agreed with my summing up of the situation. I told him of my enormous gratitude to him and the whole team for my survival and apologised for not having written to him personally, whereas I had to both the chemo and the surgical tems.  My consultant suggested that I write to the chief executive of the Trust as that always boosts morale. So I did.

It was a difficult letter because I couldn't honestly say that everything had been hunky dory. If you read back through this blog you'll find times when I was at my wit's end with the bureaucracy of the system and other issues. My blog starts at diagnosis but right at the start I had a pretty awful experience.  I'd been sent to the walk in centre for a bronchoscopy.  The health care assistant who initially took my details was wearing a dirty uniform, she had a hacking cough. It was later proven that she could not spell thyroxine - as she'd started her attempted with a ph.  I bet she says fink when she means think and fort when she means thought!  I complained at the time and I made an official written complaint later. 

Anyway, back to the letter to the Trust - it was quite short but to the point.  I received an effusive response from the chief executive which he'd copied far and wide (because three hospitals and three separate trusts had been involved in my care.) He urged me to go onto the NHS Choices web site and record my gratitude there.

I tried.  But again honesty curtailed my efforts. Within about five clicks I was being asked to comment on the cleanliness of the hospital. I know from recent first hand experience of our local hospital that it is possible for a toilet to be left uncleaned for four days even when a patient reports the fact.  It was only dealt with when the patient located the cleaning staff themselves and gave them the instruction to do the job.

So I haven't contributed to the NHS web site. I'm in a quandry. Do I do what they want - say how wonderful the result was - but on other matters 'dis' the trust or do I just forget the whole thing? Currently I'm just shelving the decision.