NHS at 70: '˜Top class care saved my life', says Hibs fan Claudia

HIBS fan Claudia Bell was no stranger to the Western General Hospital during the four years she waited on the transplant list for a new kidney.

Claudia Bell says NHS saved her life.

Now, the German-born marketing manager has a new lease of life and she credits her altruistic donor and the NHS for saving her life. She said: “The doctors and nurses are totally committed to care and their attention to detail is excellent. Nothing is too much for them.

“Having dialysis and waiting for the operation is mentally very stressful but the nurses made an extra effort to make you feel better.”

Claudia, who lives in Carrick Knowe, has been in regular contact with the NHS for 30 years after being diagnosed with the hereditary condition polycystic kidney disease in her early twenties. Due to her deteriorating kidney function, she began dialysis in 2010 and underwent surgery to have a kidney removed in 2011 – meaning she was able to go on the transplant list later that year.

She said: “I have seen how the NHS has developed and it has always been professional.

“I was treated as an individual and the care was always top of the class.”

Claudia still undergoes regular check-ups every three months or so depending on her blood results and is enjoying the freedom of not being hooked up to machines thrice-weekly.

She said: “The difference in how I feel after my transplant to how I felt before is remarkable”.

She is a die-hard fan of the NHS: “Obviously there are pressure points but as soon as anyone needs health care, the service is always there, going the extra mile.”

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