"A department that treats patients with great empathy"

I was referred after having lost hearing overnight and having been told it was wax in my ear. After getting the wax removed at the local chemist, who also raised questions re problems of the type of wax they were removing and after over 6 weeks and no sign of it getting better, I got an appointment within a week of the referral which was a big surprise.

I was advised, after hearing tests and examination of my ears, that I had a hole in my inner ear due to an infection. This was all done and explained very well and all my questions answered with no problems by a lovely consultant and the staff in his clinic.

After a few weeks my hearing deteriorated very badly once again overnight. Upon calling the ENT department, I was told to come that afternoon to allow them to look at my ears.

Once again treated extremely well and everything explained again, and I was referred for a scan to check if there were any further problems that were not being picked up.

Again only 2 weeks before I got the scan and only a further 2 weeks before a response about what it had found and that it hadn't shown anything serious or life threatening.

Again appt received within 4 weeks with Mr Walker at ENT. I had previously read a report about him that was displayed in the waiting room at ENT, and had commented to my husband that they had made him sound like a saint and that I definitely didn't believe that, possibly because of the experience I had and was still having with a consultant at the same hospital but in another department!

At my appointment I found that, OK Mr Walker was not a saint, but wasn't far off it. He is a lovely down to earth person who puts his patients at ease right away and treats them with sympathy and respect and goes through all possibilities in depth and takes your views seriously and again sympathetically.

It was agreed he would try grommets to see if this would help and after getting advanced hearing tests and results being received by him within 2 weeks of my original appointment with him, I was in the department getting grommets inserted by him. 

Although he had told me very fully what would happen, I was a bit apprehensive as it was being done under local anaesthetic. He was fantastic, explaining what he was going to do and checking when he was doing the procedure that it wasn't too painful and that I was coping OK. It was almost pain-free and I just couldn't believe how caring he was.

I am 74yrs of age and get very angry at times with some people in the medical profession who make me feel, because of my age, that I am senile and an inconvenience. But at no time did I feel that with anyone at the ENT department. I felt that nothing was a problem with them and that I, the patient, was the most important person at every point.

Having a problem with your health is not a great experience but I am left feeling that here was a department that treated their patients with great empathy and understanding. A lot of this I think comes from having a Head of Department who knows how genuinely to show his staff how he appreciates their work, which then spills over to how they treat the patient.

Great department and staff xx