‘You stayed calm when I burst into tears’: Patient’s touching note left for nurse

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Nottingham,NHS Care Centre

A patient wrote a touching 280-word anonymous thank you note to a city nurse who helped her “when everyone else refused to”.

Written for a nurse at Nottingham Urgent Care Centre, it describes how the writer had spent two days trying to get treatment for an unknown condition without success.

The female patient goes on to say: “You stayed calm when I burst into tears because I had been trying to get help for two days and had been constantly turned away.”

She adds: “I wanted to thank you because even though it was 8.30 in the morning, freezing outside, boiling inside and you were confronted by a sobbing hysterical woman who hadn’t slept in days you treated me like a human being and got me the help I needed within minutes.”

The letter was published in a report on the London Road centre’s performance over the last six months by provider Nottingham CityCare.

Addressed to the ‘nurse I never learnt the name of’ it adds: “You, in short, are the paradigm example of why I still have faith in the NHS. Before you helped me I had sought the help of multiple medical professionals who had all made the decision that because my illness was not potentially life threatening there was no time for me on the NHS.

“But you helped me swiftly and professionally and I wanted to send you a thank you note for being so fantastic at your job.”

NHS bosses organised the centre’s its transformation from a ‘walk-in centre’ to providing ‘urgent care’ last year.

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The report does not reveal the identity of the nurse or patient for confidentiality reasons

The aim is to try to improve services and take pressure off the A and E department at the QMC.

The changes, which first began to take effect in October, meant the end of ‘walk-in’ services at Clifton Cornerstone Centre.

But the report says the urgent care tactics mean the London Road centre is sending two per cent fewer people to A and E and is now able to treat 94 per cent of people who attend, instead of 89 per cent.

The centre offers help to anyone with non-life threatening problems – still on a ‘walk-in’ basis – but its urgent care status means it can now also carry out x-rays and stitch wounds, among other treatments.

It is open 7am to 9pm every day of the week and is designed to treat around 75,000 people a year.

The report adds it is saving at least £25,000 a month compared to its previous walk in centre system.

However, between January and March the centre failed to meet a target of 85 per cent of patients completing feedback forms being satisfied with the service, down ten per cent on the previous three months.

In reply to this CityCare said it is responding to patient feedback by introducing a vending machine in the waiting area and creating a baby changing room, among other measures.

It adds in the report: “UCC (the centre) is demonstrating reduced impact on 999 ambulances, emergency department referrals and GP out of hours’ services.”

[callout]’To the Nurse I never learnt the name of’: The patient’s letter in full

 

You were smart, punctual and really friendly. You saw me at around 8.30am on 25 November in your triage room. You called my name and walked me into the consultation room and talked to me like I was a human being.

You listened to what I had to say, made your recommendation, joked with me, cheered me up and gave me a prescription to help me. You stayed calm when I burst into tears because I had been trying to get help for 2 days and had been constantly turned away.

When I explained this to you, you tried to explain that Walk in Centres do not work like GPs but really what helped the most was your attitude. It just seemed like second nature to you to just help people and treat people with respect. You, in short, are the paradigm example of why I still have faith in the NHS.

Before you helped me I had sought the help of multiple medical professionals who had all made the decision that because my illness was not potentially life threatening there was no time for me on the NHS.

But you helped me swiftly and professionally and I wanted to send you a thank you note for being so fantastic at your job. I wanted to thank you because even though it was 8.30 in the morning, freezing outside, boiling inside and you were confronted by a sobbing hysterical woman who hadn’t slept in days you treated me like a human being and got me the help I needed within minutes. You did this when everyone else refused to. Thank you.

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