Is it normal to sends thank you to hospital wards and staff these days?

[ImAMinion]

I’ve recently had a very unexpected hospital stay after an infection rapidly went out of control.

A&E were excellent, I was seen quick (10 minute wait) and yes whilst there for 6 hours in total I was seen by people for scans and all sorts with not more than 25 mins between each person. I was then admitted for 3 nights, emergency surgery, drips……totally thrown and unexpected.

I cannot fault any staff I came across. The ward nurses were amazing, I am just so amazed now looking back they were clearly run off their feet but I was treated with absolute dignity and kindness. The surgeons, the consultants……I honestly can’t fault the service I received.

Is it normal these days to send a thank you note to wards? A tub of chocolates or such? I’m just in awe, even the lovely catering lady, who knew you could laugh in hospital?

I want to tell them my appreciation for my care. But not sure how!

A thank you is always always welcome. It means the world to health care staff.
Human kindness costs nothing. Send an email or a card x

DH and DMIL have/had more than their fill of hospitals in recent years but the staff have, almost universally, been awesome so I buy boxes or tins of M&S biscuits on my way in now. I know fruit is better, but sealed and wrapped is reassuringly safe.

Thanks everybody this is really good to hear. I can remember some names so I will drop these into a higher up email / hospital review and will send something to the ward.

Thank you everyone, and thank you to all hospital staff out there xx

I wrote to the Chief exec naming names where I could.
I will forever be grateful to those amazing people.

I'm almost envious of people's good hospital stays, I've spent long periods of time in hospital and have had really terrible experiences. Absolutely I would thank people in your situation OP.

My dad died during covid and had received amazing care while in hospital - they managed to buy him some time so he could return to his care home and die with my mum by his side. The empathy from the staff I spoke to on the phone to discuss his care was unbelievable, especially during such an awful time for the NHS.

The hospital he was in has an annual awards that staff can be nominated for by patients, other staff members and any other stakeholder so I nominated the ward for their care and they did win the award (albeit almost a year later). They invited me to be there when they told them but I couldn't make it - I know from the feedback (and press releases) though they shared my comments and the staff I had particularly mentioned knew why they had been nominated.

I'm definitely in the tell them how appreciative you were camp!

i think saying thank you, sending a card and making a donation if you can/want to.

They may not always appreciate the chocolate.

I knew a nurse who worked in a stressful ward (aren’t they all nowadays!) and she put on so much weight snacking on all the chocolate gifts. Yes no one forced them into her mouth but when you’re tired, sleep deprived, run of your feet and stressed and chocolate are dangled right in front of you it’s more difficult for some of us to say no.

This sounds a lot more meaningful
and I’m sure will be appreciated by all as it will boost morale.

I did a letter and then a gift bag with everything from pens to flapjacks to hand cream in it
And a photo to the surgeon (he retweeted it and said he had printed it off for his office which was lovely)
I was close to paralysis from cauda equina and sent him a photo of me riding my horse

A card is a great idea, and the staff will love it. As a student, I had a card from a patient. She named me specifically, and it lifted my spirits so much.

I have also been a patient in a psychiatric hospital, and there was a framed collection of thank you cards from ex-patients that was on display for all to see. I thought it was good, as when admitted (especially under Section), you can be a bit angry about it all. Seeing the thank yous made the stay seem less daunting. If that makes sense!

We took in a thank you card and a box of M&S chocolate biscuits to the last ward I was in. (3 weeks in hospital, a nasty infection.) I also made a donation to the hospital charity. Couldn’t fault the care, from the ambulance crew to all the hospital staff. So grateful.

Boosting morale at the moment is especially important. I can tell you know that, especially in healthcare atm. Thank you for all your work, too. In fact, thank you to everybody who works hard, Mums, Dads, Grandparents and anyone else working hard of work and who are underappreciated. x 💐 🍸 🍹 to you all x

Hospitals usually have a customer service number too which you can contact to give feedback. They will be thrilled if you call with positive feedback (as mostly people only get in touch if they are unhappy!).

We get good feedback shared in our trust bulletin and its always really lovely to see when a team has done something to help someone. I love that the catering lady made you laugh!

Yes! Please do this! Nurses use feedback for their revalidation, so even better if you name the ones that really made a difference

When I had to go in I got DH to.bring a tin of biscuits in when he came to take me home, for staff to share.

I work in a hospital - we have an e-"say thank you" scheme which makes things simple for everyone. Staff get the feedback and feel valued, and it helps the hospital to count up their compliments (which they like to report alongside the number of complaints....). If you look on the hospital website there might be a link to something like that, and there'll certainly be a link to their associated charity where you could give a donation. There's often an option to choose the sort of thing you'd like your money to be spent on - equipment, staff comforts, research etc. Or chocolates are nice too!

Yes, I had a thank you card for my midwife and selection of chocolates for the staff ☺️ My colleague is a midwife and she says thank you cards are also a proof for their yearly performance reviews, or whatever they are called.

I take in a Christmas gift to my GP surgery, and it's always appreciated. I think they get forgotten a bit but mine is outstanding.