An excellent hospital, but medics upset by surgery plan

THIS week’s column will be short and mainly sweet.

Why short? Because I can only type with my left hand. And I’m right-handed.

Why sweet? Because it takes the form of a thank you-to all the lovely staff I encountered at Salisbury District Hospital last week.

Why only mainly sweet? Because I subsequently – and quite separately -  learned of an issue at the hospital that deserves a wider public airing.

I went in on Friday for day surgery to remove a large lump from my finger. Not a pleasant prospect, but lots of people have far worse things to contend with.

The nurses on C Ward, though extremely busy, were kind and jolly, and consultant plastic surgeon Kerstin Oestreich and her team were the perfect combination of efficiency and sensitivity.

Being a bit squeamish I couldn’t watch what they were up to, though I wanted to be told.

They put on some music – a bizarre selection ranging from Nessun Dorma to one of those silly but very catchy Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep tunes that haunt people on package holidays - and kept me chatting (not difficult, my husband would say) to distract me.

The lump turned out to be one of those that’s definitely better out than in, and with luck that will be the end of it. It certainly wasn’t a ganglion, which I’d been told previously.

So I’m glad I persevered in getting it looked at again. Pestering overworked doctors can make us feel guilty and apologetic, but we have to trust our instincts.

On the day, 10 out of 10, SDH. And thank you.

Thanks also from my husband, who went to casualty straight after dropping me off, having injured a finger playing volleyball the night before.

It’s now in a splint for eight weeks, leaving us with one undamaged left hand and one right hand between us!

Of course things sometimes go wrong, but overall we are lucky to have such a good hospital, offering such a wide range of expertise, on our doorstep.

I hope that the service received by vascular patients who will have to travel to Bournemouth for major procedures in future will be just as good.

I understand that some medical staff are deeply unhappy about the change, but don’t expect any hint of that to emerge in official statements.