Caring attitude and understanding,empathy and reassurance

I had vascular surgery at Aintree hospital on 31.10.22. Subsequently, I was an inpatient for four days on the vascular ward. Prior to that, I had met with Mr Neequaye at the Vascular lab at the Royal Liverpool hospital in mid September 2022. The overall experience was very impressive and I had a strong sense of a very integrated and efficient service that was able to develop appropriate treatments in a clear and timely manner. There was a very clear and transparent assessment process at the Royal Liverpool hospital. At the conclusion of assessment, a decision was made collaboratively with myself. A second opinion was also offered by a professor of vascular surgery. I had never undertaken any form of surgery before and was very anxious at the experience. The staff I spoke to prior to surgery, were calm and reassuring. They presented as highly competent experienced professionals and this helped to mitigate some of the anxieties I was experiencing at the time. Post surgery, I spent three nights and four days on the Vascular ward. The inpatient staff were kind, responsive and helpful. During the day, the atmosphere on the ward was generally quite relaxed. One of the surgeons who undertook the operation came to visit me on the ward and gave some clear feedback about the likely outcome of the surgery. Again, this was enormously helpful. My only suggestions for improvement would be that the ward was quite noisy at night and it was difficult to sleep. I appreciate that this appears to be a common experience for people in inpatient units; however, there did appear to be opportunities for making things less noisy. For example, people could be asked to not play mobile device devices and music after a certain time of the evening, e.g. 9 am. It was quite difficult to sleep with one patient playing music at approximately 1 am in the morning on one evening. I was also situated quite near to the nursing station. In the early morning, when the change of nursing shift took place, I could also hear the nurses going through a description of the patients progress on the ward. This did not particularly bother me but I think it there are confidentiality issues here that could be considered.

I completed an online enquiry via the Liverpool Vascular Clinic website at around 10pm one night in between Christmas and New Year and the next day had a direct email response from Mr Neequaye. He was extremely helpful in answering any queries and even responded over the bank holiday weekend. A detailed vascular scan and consultation was organised the day the hospital opened after the Bank Holiday. Rick the vascular scientist carried out a thorough scan and took time to answer any queries or concerns I had. Mr Neequaye then answered any queries and talked me through management options. The whole process from start to finish was excellent and I really feel that they are a dedicated and caring team.

The attention that Simon has given my wife on the various operations and the consultant meetings at the Spire in Penny Lane have been exceptional and we could not have asked for any better care or attention to my wife’s needs. To the point where my wife was very anxious as she thought that she had another vascular issue. I contacted Simon who arrange for my wife to call and see him at 7 pm in the evening this was to alleviate the stress and worry that my wife was in,we were his only appointment, on that point we feel it summarises the dedication the man has to his profession. All of Simon’s team who have had contact with been outstanding with a service 2nd to none. M. J Durkin/Diane Durkin

Very helpful Consultant, Simon Neequaye. Did a thorough examination and explained options. Would highly recommend.

Earlier this year, I met with Mr Neequaye as I was suffering from painful varicose veins in my left leg. The treatment I received was in the form of a "left RFA to GSV + foam sclerotherapy’. This treatment was completed in less than an hour and whilst the local anaesthetic hurt slightly, the rest of the procedure was very straightforward and painless. The whole experience from start to finish was simple and highly professional and I am extremely grateful for the teams skills in solving my problem.

Very pleased with the results of my varicose veins procedure and all the support and service provided. All the staff at the Liverpool Spire and Doctor Neequay, were professional, kind and supportive at all times.