“Without the staff at Raigmore Hospital I genuinely don’t know what I would have done.”
High praise indeed and Helen McIntosh from Thurso means every word. Helen’s son Richard (15) has autism and learning difficulties and has been in and out of hospital
his entire life, it has never been easy taking him in but thanks to the work of staff in the hospital Helen is confident that if he has to come back into hospital again it won’t be the traumatic experience it used to be. She explains:
“Over the years Richard has developed a phobia of hospitals, his reaction was always out of fear rather than bad behaviour. There were times when we would only get as far as the café at the front of the hospital before it would start, as a parent seeing your child react in such a way is just horrific.
“Everybody that we have dealt with in Raigmore Hospital has been absolutely fantastic, this includes the psychologists, the Consultants and, in particular, Stephanie Mackenzie the Senior Play Specialist based in the Children’s Ward. She has been great, she would come and meet us in the café at the front of the hospital before each visit, slowly gaining Richard’s trust.
“Stephanie would have photos of every part of the hospital to show Richard which was a good idea as he really likes photos, she would arrange trial runs of visits, organizing trips to theatres or anaesthetics where Richard could meet the staff and see where he would be going. To have someone take control and coordinate his visits like that was wonderful, taking your child into hospital is a worry enough without the added pressure of what his reaction could be when he got there and Stephanie making sure that everything was planned and arranged took a lot of that worry away.”
Stephanie Mackenzie has been a Play Specialist at Raigmore Hospital for the last 10 years and is delighted that Richard has made such progress. She says:
“Teamwork was so important in this, the success of this particular case shows how working together can have positive results. Staff in theatres, anaesthetics and on the ward took the lead from us as they knew we’d spent a lot of time working with him. It took a lot of coordination from everyone involved.
We practiced with the oxygen mask, Richard likes Fireman Sam so that was his Fireman Sam mask and he made sure all the staff knew about that. We used to sit on the theatre trolley reading his favourite magazines so he would get used to it.
Richard’s Mum was also a part of the team, she worked so hard with us in making sure it all went ok, she would stay overnight in Inverness so we could practice theatre runs the next day. I’m so happy that it all went so smoothly on the day, not only for Richard but for his Mum as well.”
The work done by Stephanie and the rest of the staff involved now means that Richard and his Mum no longer dread visits to the hospital. Helen adds:
“You wouldn’t believe the difference in Richard now, he used to shake and sweat as soon as we arrived but now he walks in like he owns the place. We will definitely keep visiting so he is still used to the place but even when we are in the area now he wants to come in and see everyone. I just can’t get over the difference and I am so grateful to everyone.”
