Patient Stories

Delivering the best possible care and treatment to our patients is what we aim to do every day.

Hearing about your experience of care is really helpful to us, not only so that we can share your feedback with our teams, but so that we can learn and improve too.

Care Opinion is an online platform where you can share your experience about the care you or your loved ones have received.

Since we started using Care Opinion within NHS Borders we have received 703 stories and we are extremely grateful to everyone who has taken the time to share their experience.

One patient shared their journey of care on Ward 4 at the Borders General Hospital (BGH). They spoke about how the whole team “treats every single patient like family” and that they made the time to “take into account any special requests” the patient had around their care. They also mentioned how they felt that the catering at the BGH was in their opinion “the best across the whole of the UK.”

Another service user wrote about the positive experience they had when their son received a COVID test. They spoke about how amazing it was that the nurse on the station easily put them both at ease by chatting and appealing to their sense of humour. After taking the time to do this, their son let the nurse conduct the test “with no fuss and was even giggling throughout.” They came away “very impressed with the manner and patience” displayed.

The Home First team were thanked for the compassion, support and high standard of care that they displayed during the end of life care of one patient. The patient’s daughter wrote, “The Home First team did an amazing job of providing personal care to my mum, assisting her to preserve some dignity when she was completely bed bound. They were so lovely to her and assisted in allowing my mum to stay at home during her last few weeks which was what she really wanted.”

She went on to write how the team was also an “immense” source of support, both practical and emotional and that she wouldn’t have been able to cope without their visits.

Outside of Care Opinion, one of the patients who took the time email us directly expressed “immeasurable gratitude” over the high standard of care they received during their two visits to the Emergency Department for the treatment of a dislocated replacement hip joint. They made special thanks to the ambulance crew who, on both occasions, supported her with “professionalism and kindness.”

Nicky Berry, Director of Nursing and Operations at NHS Borders, said: “It is important that we learn from our patient experiences, both good and bad, and are able to use this feedback to help continue to improve our services. Ensuring that we provide the best possible care for people in the Borders. It is essential for us to hear directly from patients and their families about what we do well and what we could do better. Having an open and honest conversation with patients enables us to take direct action, so please, if you can, take the time to give us your feedback at www.careopinion.org.uk.”