Feeding back

Last year, I wrote a letter of complaint to the hospital after a particularly upsetting check-up visit. It was acknowledged and, apparently, did have an effect on overall practice (though I assume other patient feedback led to those changes). This year, my treatment on a similar visit was exemplary. It's taken me a while to get used to the idea that I don't need to go back, but I'm now preparing to write a letter to the hospital to tell them how much I appreciated the way in which I was dealt with this time. It's important, I think, to provide good as well as critical feedback (but essential to provide feedback of some sort). I'm also about to write a personal letter to Nurse Janet to thank her for her support and kindness whenever I saw her over "the check up years" - and, most particularly, to thank her for treating me as a person rather than as a collection of body parts, something that many medical personnel seem to forget about.

Thank you, Nurse Janet - I'll always remember your first words to me, "You're someone who's had cancer. You haven't got it now, so you can stop feeling sorry for yourself!" That's the most helpful thing anyone said to me throughout the entire experience (even though I didn't think so at the time!)