For the past few years Southend Hospital and local paper Evening Echo have had an award for a patient nominated Hospital Hero – “This is for an individual or team who consistently demonstrate high quality clinical care, with compassion”. SCA UK Group member, Charlie Dickens is a patient at the hospital and had an idea for a nomination and we agree, and maybe you too?…
Why I’ll be nominating Dr Tom Keeble (Cardiologist) for an NHS Hospital Hero Award, and why I hope you’ll join me & nominate him too! I consider myself very lucky to have Dr Keeble as my cardiologist, and I know others in SCA UK feel the same.
Following 4 cardiac arrests, caused by a heart attack, I first met Dr Keeble when I was in hospital. He has a fantastic bed side manner, takes time at appointments to listen and assess, and goes out of his way to be available to his patients. He demonstrates an understanding of how we feel, the overwhelming trials that we survivors face psychologically and emotionally as well as physically. I trust him, and feel safe in his care, and for me that’s top of my list of wants about a Dr.
This group has proven to me that not all care is the same, many feel that they were ‘on their own’ on discharge from hospital, leaving with more questions than answers, and feeling very alone. I got to thinking about the NHS Hospital Hero Awards, and all the work that Dr Keeble has done for our group.
How he aims to develop aftercare for SCA survivors across the country. His work in developing and championing a Gold Standard. His recognition of the massive raft of issues experienced by survivors, will hopefully help to change the way we are treated now & in the future, consistently across the UK.
Dr Keeble, has not only been there for his own patients, but via 2 evening Webinars, made himself accessible to all survivors and families on the SCA UK group, answering questions and giving advice. For some it was clear it was the first opportunity they’d had to ask questions, and talk about the issues they’d faced in the wake of surviving death!
He has presented at conferences and forums, showing his passion for improving how survivors are supported in the aftermath of SCA. Most recently was his instrumental involvement in bringing together 127 individuals from across the country for a Guinness World Record attempt for the largest gathering of SCA survivors. A day which was full of emotion and joy for so many, as they got to meet people who also ‘get it’ & to share an overwhelming experience. Dr Keeble was there, volunteering, presenting, promoting the Gold standard, talking to survivors and their families and his passion is so obvious!
So my reason for this ramble is this! We all know that dying is actually the easy bit – surviving is much harder. Dr Tom Keeble is not just my Cardiologist. He has proved that he is working tirelessly for all of us, and for survivors who will go through ‘the system’ in the future. He is working to provide the support that will make surviving easier!
Please nominate and vote for Dr Tom Keeble as our NHS Hospital Hero – he deserves it!
Charlotte (Charlie) Dickens
You can read more about the award at the Southend Hospital Heroes 2018 webpage. The 3 top nominations will be put forward to the public vote, so we need to make sure he’s one of the top three!
To make nominating him a little easier we’ve created a Hospital Heroes 2018 Nomination Form which all you have to do is fill in the fields – most are obvious, name and contact details. the last field “YOUR_REASON” is the reason why you are nominating him. Maximum words for this fields is 250*. To submit the nomination click the “Merge Document” button and that’s it!
Closing date is 5pm Monday July 30th!
*If you want to write a little bit we suggest you type it in another app first (notepad etc) and then copy & paste as there’s not much room to view what you’re typing
After our first meet-up in February 2015, I realised I was not alone. It was the first time since my cardiac arrest the previous year that I had spoken face-to-face with someone who had experienced what I had. This was also true for my wife, who also happened to be my lifesaver. From that meet-up, the idea of SCA UK was born. Since then, we have achieved a considerable amount, primarily providing information, resources and support to others in a similar situation but also raising the profile of survivorship and the need for better post-discharge care. We are starting to get traction in this, and with the formation of the charity, I genuinely believe we have a bright future ahead and will make a significant difference in the lives of many who join our ranks.