When a Response Goes Above and Beyond

Patient Opinion sees a whole array of responses to stories on the site. We think good responding from services facilitates improvement through instigating a conversation between author and provider; creating a space to discuss and solve problems in the public domain, to open up new ideas and to hopefully end in a planned change. Sometimes we see amazing responses that simply go above and beyond what we hope for.  One great example is this recent response to this very touching story.

The author of the story had found their neighbour collapsed and unable to breathe after hearing them call for help. They called 999 and performed CPR until the ambulance arrived. Unfortunately, although they did everything possible to save the life of their “dear friend” and neighbour, they later died in hospital. Despite their upsetting loss, the author wanted to post the story on Patient Opinion in order to thank the ambulance crew and other staff involved, stating “I am so grateful for the incredible emergency services that come to us in our most desperate need”.

This was clearly a difficult and emotional story to tell, something that Martin Esposito, the Patient Experience Manager for the Scottish Ambulance Service realised. In his response, not only did he thank the author for leaving such kind feedback (that he hopes to pass on to the staff involved), but he also explained that he understood it “must have been an unimaginably difficult and distressing situation”. He recognised the author’s bravery for being able to call 999 twice and carry out CPR on their friend while waiting for help.

But then Martin says something really special… “Thinking more about you, and what you experienced on that day, if you did want to speak to someone about your experience or simply have a chat, I would be more than happy to meet up with you or give you a call.”

The whole team at Patient Opinion were struck by Martin’s empathy, compassion and thoughtfulness and we were happy to see the author responded to thank Martin and say that they did give him a call, and that it really helped.

We were so touched by this that we felt we simply had to share it.

We want to thank Martin, share his great work and hopefully give other responders the confidence to put a bit more of themselves into their responses.  By doing this, Martin went above and beyond and really helped someone in need.

If you are a responder on the website, we would encourage you to consider what you can do to help, no matter how small that help might seem, because often it can mean a lot more than you first thought.