Jeanette is better than ever thanks to ‘magic’ Andy – share your Outstanding Patient Experience stories with us

We have just extended the deadline for this year’s Outstanding Patient Experience award nominations to Friday 25 July, and we want to hear from you!

Last year, one of our patients, Jeanette, shared her story and nominated Andy Mellington, a Consultant Plastic Surgeon here at QVH, due to the care and compassion that he showed her during her treatment at our hospital:

‘Don’t worry, I’ll look after you.’ There’s nothing out of the ordinary in that short sentence, is there? But to Jeanette, having just learned she needed a second breast cancer operation 20 years after her first, they were magic words.

Jeanette had been referred to QVH for her surgery, and it’s here that she met Andy Mellington, Consultant Plastic Surgeon, who provided these words of comfort during her first consultation.

She said: “It was a huge shock, cancer again 20 years after the first time. This time the only option was a full mastectomy and there was not enough skin on my left breast for an implant. When I went and met Andy, straight away any fear about my body just disappeared.

“I was more than happy to put my body in Andy’s hands knowing all would be fine. It was when Andy left the room and was passing me, that he gently put his hand on my right shoulder and said, ‘Don’t worry Jeanette, I’ll look after you’.

“It was a fleeting moment but it meant the world to me; those words were like magic. From then on I didn’t worry about anything.”

Jeanette was so moved by the care she received that she chose to nominate Andy for our Outstanding Patient Experience Award in our annual Star Awards last year – which he won.

She said: “I honestly believe you can teach anyone, with the right aptitude, the ability to be a surgeon – but what you can’t teach is the ability to put a patient’s mind at rest. That has to be the most important thing, surely. Andy was superb and that’s why I nominated him. He fully deserved to win.

I feel he has restored my body better than it was before. How marvellous is that?”

Have you been a patient at QVH in the last year and want to share your outstanding patient experience story? Please send your nominations for stellar members of QVH staff in to us here: https://qvh.wufoo.com/forms/nominate-a-brilliant-member-of-qvh-staff-p13zvxb81f1hkhq?fbclid=IwY2xjawLeD5xleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFVQUhjdUdBSUZ3b3Q4OHM1AR6vIJxL-o6KeLlD4-ufG4w-IbjcxHOdjUSxOHDN_H6Bk8VIe0SNETLtiX7V7w_aem_WYJtihqbHRa5Bym_RJ8kkg

The deadline for nominations is Friday 25 June. Who knows, your nomination may win – your voice counts!