Isobel Hunter

Review of Poole nhs Foundation Trust

I don't live in Poole, but was visiting when I beg...

I don't live in Poole, but was visiting when I began to feel really unwell. After two days I decided I had to go to A and E as I have high blood pressure and my symptoms seemed to be those of pre-heart attack. I don't go to an A and E lightly, but I'm so glad I did, as my blood pressure was dangerously high. I was seen by the triage nurse after 15 minutes (they have to prioritise) and every single member of staff I came across in the next 5 long hours was I professional, kind, patient and did their job under pressure that most of us couldn't imagine. After my ECG, I had blood taken and the poor nurse apologised because she couldn't get a vein for a while - hardly her fault, this often happens when you're unwell. While I was waiting for the test results, I could hear staff talking to other patients in the emergency ward, calmly dealing with people who were seriously ill, angry, frightened, confused or all four. I'm sure the staff aren't angels, but it did give me a lot of time to think about people who do these jobs every day, often on low wages, and how amazing our NHS can still be at times like this.