I was cared for by Flora while I was in ITU, fully paralysed on the left side due to a stroke. Flora has a real passion for delivering the best care to her patients and I cannot thank her enough for how much of a positive impact she had on me and my fiancé. She showed genuine empathy, compassion, and a natural ability to quickly build a positive relationship with myself and my fiancé while making us feel at ease during a very stressful time. Flora always listened so attentively whenever I spoke to her. I was amazed by how she personalised the care she delivered by paying attention to the small details, like noticing I love my tea. And going the extra mile by making sacrifices in favour of the patient, such as offering to bring me a hot cup of tea during her own break time after noticing the cup of tea on my table had gone cold. This simple act made me so feel happy and set my day off to such a positive start, even though I was going through one of the worst phases of my life.

Flora also treated my fiancé with so much kindness and compassion while she visited me. My fiancé is an oncology sister and she was amazed by the high quality of care as well as the level of dignity and respect Flora showed to us. I’ve been around nurses my whole life; my mother is a retired operating theatre nurse who has worked across all the London hospitals and I did multiple stints of work experience in a max fax unit as a teenager, so I have an understanding of the pressures nurses face and what high-quality nursing care looks like, but during my time at Charing Cross I experienced this from a patient’s perspective. I couldn’t have asked for more than what Flora delivered while I was under her care. It felt as if I was being cared for by a family member. So all I can say is thank you so much to Flora for going out of your way to make me feel better.