The NHS need all the support they can get

Guy's Hospital, London Bridge (Image: telegraph.co.uk)

Earlier this week, I had an operation. It wasn't a major one but the day as a whole was such an intriguing experience, I feel I had to share my experience.

It is worth noting that my operation was done under the NHS. The National Health Service, has been under massive scrutiny of late. You see in the news every day about them failing someone - whether it was diagnosing someone of cancer too late to cure them, or if a young child will suffer from a particular disability for the rest of their life after a blunder from the health service. The coverage they have received has been negative and if they had anything positive to say about the NHS that would be silenced by a scandal in a particular hospital.

The negative publicity never put me off the NHS. I have relied on them from day one of my life and they have very rarely let me down. I have been lucky not to have broken a bone in my body and therefore not have relied on the NHS as much. And even with this procedure I had, there was three months between my diagnosis and operation date. I know I was extremely lucky, but you have to consider the fact that doctors and nurses treat millions of people every day so the stories you read in the papers, are isolated cases - as tragic as they may be.

So there I was on a Thursday morning approaching Guy's Hospital in London Bridge for my minor operation. I wasn't nervous as prior to operation day, consultant after consultant, by phone and face-to-face, kept me at ease and made sure that I was completely prepared for the day. And when I arrived at the hospital waiting lounge just before 9am, I settled in nicely - even though having been nil-by-mouth 12 hours prior wasn't fun, although necessary.

I was at the hospital for nine hours in total. Now, that may sound like a lot and when I've spoken to closest friends and relatives about this, you can tell they were also surprised. However, for me, during that nine hours, I learned so much and whilst before I said "I love the NHS" - now I can say, "I not only love the NHS, but I am passionate about our National Health Service".

When I arrived just shy of 9am, I basked in the ambience as I suspected I was going to be in the hospital for a while - never knew I was going to be in hospital for that long but having looked back, I'm glad I did now. In the waiting room the staff members ensured patients were thoroughly consulted, made sure they were mentally prepared for the operation, made sure they were wearing appropriate clothing before heading to the operating theatre, answered calls (and those phones rang every 2-3 minutes), made sure loved ones who were waiting were okay, and so on. I think they consulted about 30-40 patients through the time I was there - and I counted about 12 staff members in that section of the hospital.

To me, having 12 people looking after around 40 patients throughout the day, sounds completely disproportionate. Bearing in mind that these 40 patients waited on average three hours between arriving to the waiting room and the time where they were going to be operated. And each patient were there for different reasons - heart bypass, prostate cancer treatment, removal of appendix - so each had different needs and requirements. These staff members had to keep alert from 8am when their shift started to after 6pm when they were closing up for the day. No real opportunity for a break, or time to breathe for that matter.

The atmosphere was by no means chaotic. In fact, it was completely the opposite. And I think it helped that there were no 'difficult' patients - actually, I think I was the most difficult one because I anticipated going to work as soon as I finished but that wasn't to be the case as I was discharged at 5.45pm. I wasn't initially best pleased that at 12.45pm I discovered I wasn't going to be operated on until "three hours from now". I suppose it was my first experience in a waiting lounge before heading to an operation. But best things come to those who wait, so they say.

The staff I felt were absolutely incredible. From those at the waiting lounge to those who operated on me, I was delighted by their service. For each day to be so intense, knowing that people's lives are in your hands, I know that I'd fall apart. They have nerves of steel and they were not only pleasant, but they were genuine. It makes you wonder why their reputation is tarnished every day. I suppose there isn't such thing as a genuinely uplifting story. "NHS were brilliant" doesn't make a good story, I suppose.

Health Minister Jeremy Hunt (Image: New Statesman)

The negative publicity the NHS receives isn't put right at the moment because we have a government which doesn't give it the credit it deserves. If there was a scandal, which we have heard of a few in recent years, instead of the government making sure that they get the right guidance so that particular hospital gets back on track - they point the blame and give patients doubt and that they should be fearful when being treated by the NHS. To me, the biggest scandal at the NHS at the moment is that their bosses receive millions and millions of pound of bonuses. Recent figures showed that these bosses received £166m. £166m came from our pockets because we, the tax payer, fund the NHS.

Did we ever agree to these bosses receiving the £166m? If we had a choice, we'd invest a lot of that £166m on hiring more staff members so that patients are seen quicker. We'd invest a lot of that £166m on researching diseases which instead, we have charities working tirelessly to doing this. This isn't the NHS's fault - it is that we have a government which can only see things from a private care point of view rather than looking into the public health service. I believe that the public should have a bigger say on what our money is being spent on rather than the government taking all that power from us.

I can understand that the Labour Party are protective of "their NHS". Their social media has been going crazy about the NHS's proud history, which it absolutely does. However, we need to see action. The politicians need to visit these hospitals with their eyes wide open, fully appreciate the fantastic work every single staff member does, and produce them with rewards. They work too hard but receive too little credit.

My operation, when it gradually took place, went so smoothly. The surgeons were magnificent and when they warned me that "You may feel a scratch" when I was given the local anaesthetic, I felt nothing. It was a delightful experience and, although I don't want to go through the process of needing an operation (who does?) again, I know that if that was ever to happen again, I know that I'd be in safe hands, whatever the situation.