Our daughter has attended GOSH clinics a few times before and has been treated by some lovely nurses. However, from the outset, Gemma was just incredible.

Our daughter has had some adverse experiences at the hospital and has a lot of trauma relating to things that have happened. Gemma was just incredibly welcoming, informative, and calming towards not only H, but my partner and H’s grandmother, too.

She went above and beyond to make H feel comfortable from before the procedure to afterwards. When H was panicking, Gemma was incredibly patient and had amazing strategies to calm her down. It was so lovely to see how H totally trusted her and was in awe. Gemma took the time to learn about H, her likes and interests, and remembered these throughout our stay to make H’s experience personable, which also helped massively when H was upset about having a cannula inserted. When H was under anaesthetic, Gemma was so compassionate and kind, making sure we were accompanied back to the ward. She made sure H had all the food she needed for recovery and remembered her favourites! She even knew H had sugar with her cornflakes.

She ensured that we, as parents, fully understood H’s discharge notes- something we haven’t had before at GOSH! She gave so much time and patience to H and has totally reformed H’s views on her visits to the hospital. She said Gemma made everything “so much fun!” And she “can’t wait to come back to see Gemma!” She is now inspired to become a GOSH nurse when she grows up to be just like Gemma!

We cannot thank her enough for transforming H’s views of the hospital and making it such a positive experience for her.