When my wife and I came into the hospital to have a ablation on my wife's kidney (a third operation following her diagnosis of cancer, with a fourth one to come) we checked in at the Day Operation department to be informed that due to being very busy the night before, there were insufficient beds available so they would look at each patient and if the operation could be done at another date they would be moved to another date. My wife had already had her first operation date in December canceled for this date and the subsequent operation relied on this date’s operation being completed on this day. The reception although polite was not optimistic that N's operation would happen, an hour or so later N was called to have her pre-op checks (reception was keen to stress it didn't mean N would have her operation though).

We then met Yossi, she was fantastic, she immediately put N at ease and asked about what we were there for and once she understood the full picture, then set about making sure the operation would happen as planned, she was professional, organised, knew all the procedures, and gained our full trust. N went through her operation as planned and although ended up having to stay overnight due to being very sick every time she ate, the care with which she was treated during the day by Yossi and the team in Interventional Radiology was so professional, empathetic, dignified and delivered with a real sense of caring, exactly what you 'hope' as a patient.

My wife had further issues which meant we had to re-visit the ward to have her medication adjusted and again Yossi was there, recognised Nikki, and ensured she was looked after quickly and efficiently. After we left, unfortunately, that evening the new medication made N start to be sick again and she couldn’t keep anything even water down. I phoned the ward first thing in the morning, Yossi telephoned me back and advised that they would have to put N on an IV to get her hydrated and the necessary drugs into her body, unfortunately, we would have to do this through A&E which proved to be a nightmare. However, once we were in DUN Yossi who had kept in contact with us during the day, came over to see us and discussed N with the ward nursing team, N was seen later on, the IV was given and at 10 pm we were discharged. We got through it in the end and Yossi being the calm in the storm was what made the difference. After several hours of N having to sit in a hard chair, I had decided to take N home and it was only on Yossi's advice that we waited it out, and this ensured N started to feel a little better in the end of the day and has since improved significantly.

I am clearly not a nursing professional, I cannot even pronounce the names of the drugs being prescribed to N let alone understand what they are or what they do, we have had a long battle with cancer and the stress of dealing with it robs you of time, enjoyment and 'normality'. When someone helps take that away, offers you help, encouragement and above all treats you with compassion, dignity, and care, it is what makes all the difference. Thank you.