In comparison with my other blogs
this will short and sweet (no pun intended!)… It’s just something that I wanted to note down
because saying thank you to someone goes a long way… but saying it in a blog
means it goes even further.
I’m the first to admit that when
it comes to my care and treatment, if something goes wrong, if something isn’t
quite up to scratch, I don’t tend to sit and dwell on it. I openly talk about
my health care online; often to see if something is the norm, to gain different
perspectives, to let the professionals learn from my experiences…
So today I thought I’d share an experience
that helped me gain a little perspective, possibly even changed my mind about
the decisions I have made recently to move my care from Secondary to Primary.
That experience was down to the reception staff at my diabetes clinic.
Getting out of my car I knew that
I would only need help from the receptionists today and I knew, from
experience, that I would get a first class service from them. As expected, I
was greeted with a smile and a kind welcome, no job was too much despite a
queue behind me of people wanting to book appointments, my enquiry was dealt
with quickly and professionally and I was thanked (why was I thanked?) more
than once for coming in.
Looking back at other health care
settings I often leave feeling frustrated and
angry (once or twice in tears!) at the lack of help and sometimes lack people skills that I’ve
experienced, feeling that I'm just getting in the way. On occasions I've been left without insulin, test strips or refused appointments during an emergency... Also, we all know that a clinical environment isn’t the most relaxing
and welcoming setting. Often they are cold, quiet and sterile looking rooms that
are in desperate need of a new coat of paint. Often people feel anxious about
going to see a health care professional, worried about getting test results or
having to discuss problems that have been affecting them… Even so, a warm
welcome is all it takes to make the visit a little better for the patients.
If impressions are made within the first 5 seconds of meeting someone, I’d
definitely say that the impression I get from the Queen Alexandra Hospital “front
of house” diabetes staff is right up there! This goes far beyond the reception
desk, and I feel that the happy, kind and caring nature of the reception staff
must rub off onto others who work there. It certainly rubs off onto me!
So credit where credit is due…
well done and thank you – Keep up the great work!