The positives of my time in an NHS hospital

A few things to be grateful for

It wasn’t all doom and gloom from my time in hospital, as flawed and stretched as the NHS is there’s still so much to be grateful for. Here are my examples:

Walking out of a 10 day hospital stay without having one thought on any financial impact (beyond the lost days at work) is something we take for granted in the UK. In many parts of the world, including many developed ones, there are people one hospital bill away from poverty. I do love to be part of a system that when you’re sick you don’t have to deal with the added stress/strain of any financial pressures.

There are doctors, nurses, HCP’s within the system who are wonderful, caring people who must be very resilient to not be completely worn down by a system so stretched. It was such a breath of fresh air whenever I felt under the care of someone who seemed to genuinely be concerned about my welfare. Towards the end of my stay I had to have an epidural blood patch and the surgical team couldn't have been more kind and professional. 

Basic protocol seemed to be followed very religiously, my blood pressure etc was taken very routinely and I felt like staff often had clear systems that they implemented well.

Every room I was in was always kept pretty immaculately clean, from the bins being changed every day to the bedding being changed whenever it was requested. Cleanliness never felt like an issue.