Former patient brings gifts for surgical team and Ward 308 to say thank you 'wonderful' care
A former patient returned to thank the ward team who cared for him following an operation to remove a suspected cancer.
Mr Vic Deaves brought cakes, flowers, chocolates and bottles of fizz to present to the team on Royal Derby Hospital’s Ward 308 and the surgical team who carried out his procedure as a token of his gratitude for the “wonderful” care he received.
Vic was admitted on 8 September after a polyp was discovered in his bowel, which specialists suspected was cancerous and so opted for a procedure to remove it. After undergoing a six-hour operation, Mr Deaves spent eight days recovery on the ward before being discharged home.
He said: “I just can’t thank them enough, I’m so proud of every single one of them, from the nurses to the cleaners. They looked after me wonderfully and worked so hard and diligently; nothing is too much trouble for them.
Mr Deaves, who is 81-years-old and from Belper, has also been living with prostate cancer for around 12 years, and says he was thrilled when he was offered a procedure:
“People were amazed when I said that I was chuffed to bits to be having the procedure! My prostate cancer is being managed through regular injections, so when I was given the opportunity to remove a potential cancer, I was in no doubt.
"I hope I'm not the first to do this on their behalf."
— BBC Radio Derby (@BBCDerby) October 17, 2022
Staff at the Royal Derby Hospital get special surprise from former patient pic.twitter.com/0rGeLSShvq
“While I was on the ward, I didn’t want to be miserable, so I went around making all the staff laugh and smile. They were always so happy, and I honestly felt like I was staying in a luxury hotel and not a hospital.”
Mandie Linnington, Senior Sister on Ward 308, said the whole team were blown away by Mr Deaves’ generosity: 
“Everyone on the ward remembers Vic; he is such a lovely man and this is incredibly kind of him.
“It has been a tough couple of years working through the pandemic so it’s really nice, it’s actually quite emotional to be presented with something like this! It’s nice to know that we’ve done so well by Vic despite the challenges we’ve faced.”