Patient Stories

We strive to provide the best quality care and treatment possible for every patient across the Scottish Borders.

Hearing about your experiences of our services and our staff helps us learn and improve by sharing the feedback with our teams.

Care Opinion is an online platform where you can share your experience of the care you or your loved ones have received. You can let us know what went well and what we could do to make our services even better, based on your own experience.

This month, we received positive feedback from a patient about their experience while being treated for breast cancer. She particularly wanted to highlight the support of Caroline, one of our staff members, who she said she “cannot speak highly enough of”. The person said that Caroline was there for her whenever she needed advice or just someone to talk to. She also praised many of our other staff in the Borders Macmillan Centre – Lindsey, Ailsa, and Heather, who she said made her smile, had a lovely nature and put her at ease. Positive feedback was also given for surgeon Shareef and all the Ward 7 nurses who took “great care” of her when she was in recovery. After her treatment was complete, the lady said she received “great after care”, her wellbeing was regularly checked on. She concluded by saying that she has now been given the all clear and is “eternally grateful for all the people who helped on [her] journey and continue to do so.”

Other feedback we received this month included a mum discussing the positive experience she had with her child who was in hospital for a hernia operation. She said that “from the minute they walked in” to Ward 15 they had the “most amazing care” and that “each and every member of staff” played a hugely positive part in her daughter’s first hospital experience. The mum said that staff chatted to her daughter, joked with her, and even “entertained her request of operating on her teddy at the same time as her”, which she said made what they thought would be a scary experience one of her daughter’s “best times ever!” The mum added that her daughter was “at ease” the whole time and “never once got worried”. She concluded by thanking the staff in the ward, calling them “walking angels” and saying that their family feels “grateful and very lucky to have such an amazing ward on our doorstep”.

In another story, someone shared feedback about their experience with BECS (our GP Out of Hours Service). They said that they were “very well looked after” by all the staff they met. They added that the nurses were all “lovely, very compassionate and friendly” and that they always made time and regularly asked patients if they needed anything despite being busy. The person said that they were kept informed and updated while staff decided how best to treat them, which “greatly reduced” their anxiety, and they particularly wanted to thank Dr Nazir, who was “so empathetic, kind and reassuring.”

Sarah Horan, Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals at NHS Borders, said: “We always look forward to receiving feedback from our patients, as having these open and honest conversations about your care lets us know what we are doing well and what we can improve on too. Positive feedback has a hugely beneficial impact on staff morale, while constructive feedback gives us an opportunity to learn from your experiences and make our future patients’ experiences even better. If you or one of your family members has recently used one of our services, please take the time to tell us your story at www.careopinion.org.uk.”

Since we started using Care Opinion to gather your feedback, we have received 1,183 stories. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to tell us about your experience.