So Sad but Such Hope!

I don't have a television set connected to any television services so I watch programmes either when I go travelling or on the BBC iPlayer or the ITV iPlayer. This morning I saw a programme on the BBC iPlayer on the Great Ormond Street Hospital. Great Ormond Street (GOS)  is, by all accounts, a world beating hospital that specialises in the treatment of sick children and benefits from the bequest of JM Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, inter alia.

In this programme, we followed three children each with their own horrific cardiac problems. One child had been flown in from Germany and not only had a hole in his heart but his trachea was far too thin to allow him to breathe effectively. This tiny baby was on the verge of death at all times and had already had one cardiac arrest with concomitant potential brain damage. The question was whether they should operate: was it dangerous now and/or in the future. Anyway, they performed the operation and we saw the baby being taken home to Germany with huge hope for the future. This must have been so emotional for everyone concerned: parents, nurses and doctors. Huge praise too for the highly talented international team that works at the hospital.

Another case was the boy who only had, as I understand it, half a heart: they knew this from before the boy was born so that when he was born he was taken immediately to split his heart into two and he was given a chance of survival. Again, parents and grandparents in evidence giving unconditional love to a baby even before he was born. The same was true of the medical team: a baby has not even been born but everyone is fighting for its life.

We also saw a baby who had been in GOS for almost every day of his 6 month life being made well enough to be taken outside for a walk in the park. So good to see.

Whilst our politicians are attempting, full steam ahead, to make a complete mess of the NHS, it is fantastic to be able to see such high quality care from what is clearly a dedicated and talented team at the hospital.

DW