The NHS does it again

...and in a positive way!

We hear so much negativity about our wonderful health service that I felt compelled to share a success story. My mum hasn't been too well over the past few weeks and has really been struggling today. She has been suffering with more than a cold but not quite flu but as an asthmatic this cause caused her serious issues with her breathing. It all came to a head today and she used the NHS 111 service this morning for advice.

111 is a number you can dial for assistance when you're not sure as to whether your issue is a medical emergency or not. It's there to try and relieve the pressure off accident and emergency departments which in my opinion are well over used these days. Mum spoke to a trained advisor who was able to review her symptoms and confirmed there was no need for an ambulance but did feel she needed to see somebody today. A short time after her review over the telephone she received an outpatient appointment at our local hospital at 17:00.

Not one to be late I picked mum up at 16:15 and we got to the hospital for just after 16:30. We parked up, got directions from reception and got directed to where we needed to be. I was expecting to be sat in the waiting area for hours as many horror stories suggest.

It was clean and warm and not particularly busy...somewhat different from the usual scenes in A&E on a Saturday evening - I mean in relation to how busy it was.

17:00 came around and mum was called in to see the doctor. She walked out of the surgery at 17:15 with a prescription for steroids, full of praise for the lovely doctor she had just seen. I of course had to take a waiting room selfie to celebrate it wasn't me waiting to see a doctor (for once).

We went off to Boots to get her pills and returned home by 17:45.

I appreciate not everybody has the same experience but I think it's a great example of how well things can work when people use the services available to us properly. Excellent job!