By Isle of Wight Observer
In this day and age, there is so much criticism of the NHS, and the focus seems to be on everything they are not doing. However, not enough attention is being given to the pivotal part the incredible staff members play, as crucial cogs of this nationwide machine. I would like to share my personal experience of the exceptional and prompt care I received this week.
On Tuesday, August 13, I suffered my second heart attack, the first one I endured was in January 2017.
I reached my home in Cowes at 8pm and was horrified to find a car in my reserved parking bay. I spoke to the driver and said in no uncertain terms that he should move off, and luckily he did! After this issue was resolved, my defib (an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) went off. When a heart defibrillator goes off, it means that a potentially life-threatening heart rhythm has been detected and an electric shock is being applied to the heart in order to restore a normal rhythm. I called on my neighbour, who is a nurse, for assistance, and she rang the ambulance, which arrived in just half an hour.
I was seen at St Mary’s Hospital within five minutes of my arrival. There, I was connected to numerous machines, four blood samples were taken, and it was discovered I had a heart rate twice the normal speed. The care I received whilst in the hospital was remarkable. It worked like clockwork; the staff were friendly and did their best to cater to your every need. Two members of staff that really stood out to me were Dr Katrina from Romania, and Peston from Nigeria.
After an hour and a half, at 11.15pm, the doctor attending to me made the decision that my stats on the machines were so good I could return home. They were kind enough to call me a taxi, the driver of which had also survived a heart attack, so he knew how to best take care of me. He walked me up the steps to my door, brought my luggage in, and made sure I was alright.
On Wednesday morning at 8.30am, the day after my attack, I was informed that Southampton Hospital had already received all of my medical notes and so had my doctor in Cowes!
The punchline to my tale is: “Hooray for the National Health Service!” Because at the end of the day, where would we be without them?