Patient Feedback

Here is a small selection of the wonderful feedback we regularly receive from satisfied patients of Dr Michael Beckles including this letter, published in full. See below for snippets of other feedback from patients and their families.

“I am writing to thank the Royal Free for the wonderful care that my mother received from Dr Michael Beckles. Sadly, my mother died at home. She had carcinoma of the lung with liver metastases.

My mother was referred to Dr Beckles for a second opinion, having previously received a diagnosis of COPD four months earlier. However, she had continued to deteriorate, with increasing shortness of breath and loss of energy. Within 24 hours Dr Beckles had made the diagnosis and booked her a liver biopsy to ascertain the nature of the carcinoma. She later went on to be seen by the oncologists. She received one pulse of chemotherapy but it was soon evident that the carcinoma had progressed so far that there was no point in continuing chemotherapy. We looked after her at home from then on.

Before she died, my mother asked me to write to you to thank you for the amazing care that Dr Beckles provided. This was critical in helping her to come to terms with death. My father had died 3 weeks before my mother received her diagnosis and my mother had been his carer for 10 years. She very much wanted to live and had a lot that she wanted to do and so she had much to come to terms with.

From the outset, Dr Beckles was attentive and listened very carefully to my mother’s history and examined her very respectfully and gently. He promptly organized the necessary investigations and made the diagnosis within 24 hours. For my mother, who had been married to a doctor, and myself (having held consultant posts in several institutions, including the Royal Free), it was evident that Dr Beckles’ clinical acumen was truly outstanding and he didn’t put a foot wrong throughout. He also acted very promptly. While there was clearly nothing that could be done to change the course of the disease, he did everything to ease her symptoms and carefully titrated her medication to give her maximal relief with as few side effects as possible. He also did simple things like ordering oxygen at home and liaising with the GP very promptly – all of which smoothed the process of looking after her. He was regularly in touch to find out how she was, even in the last few weeks of her life. He was above all compassionate throughout and treated her with dignity, which meant a lot to her.

He was clearly very busy and was sometimes interrupted during consultations about other urgent issues. He always apologised, would give his full attention to the other urgent matter, then returned to my mother and carried on where he left off. His manner, caring and professionalism were exemplary.

As I mentioned, the knowledge that everything possible was being done by Dr Beckles, together with his compassion and thoughtfulness helped my mother through some very dark times and ultimately to come to terms with her impending death. We are deeply grateful.”

“A very calm and collect doctor, with an excellent ‘bedside’ manor, who puts you at your ease and explains everything, or is happy to answer any questions the patient may have. He is thorough and will, if relevant, ask for a second opinion to ensure the patient gets the best treatment & care under tight working practices. He would be a superb ‘role model’ for younger doctors.”
“I wanted to let you know how much your help and compassion made the last six weeks of my husband’s life bearable for myself and my family. Thank you.”
“Dr Beckles has an excellent bedside manner. Calm and reassuring; he understands my needs and responds timely and practically; employs a wholistic approach and he certainly cares about my wellbeing. An excellent doctor.”
“I had a malignant tumour in my lung, and Dr Beckles gave me the diagnoses. He was wonderful in how he broke the news to me and explained me the treatment that was needed. He gave me great peace of mind in the most difficult time in my life. I had an operation last year to remove the tumour and now I am cancer free. I have regular checks with Dr Beckles. I can’t thank him enough.”
“I would like to take this opportunity of thanking you for looking after my mother during her recent illness. I know she held you in extremely high regard. True compassion cannot be taught in medical school, and in my view, it is ultimately what separates good doctors from mere medical technologists. My mother was impressed by what you gave of yourself, and we think she was lucky to have you looking after her.”
“Dr Beckles is a remarkable doctor. He is always at hand if we have problems. We trust him absolutely.”
“I have complete confidence in Dr Beckles. He has greatly improved the quality of my life.”
“Dr Beckles was unusually kind and able to put me at ease at a time when I’d lost faith in Harley Street.”
“Thank you very much for your prompt care and expertise in my time of need.”
“I feel privileged to have access to Dr. M. Beckles. He is a rare doctor among the world of specialists I know of. A very grateful patient.”
“I can never thank you enough for what you have done for me! I am really fortunate to know a person like you, who goes out of the way to help people during their difficult times.”
“You are an exceptional Doctor with, as I have observed, exceptional manners to all your patients. I am grateful that you have helped me to breathe better.”
“I had outstanding treatment from Dr Beckles. He is as always clear and thoughtful and, from being very ill indeed, I have regained good health. I am very grateful to this excellent consultant.”
“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Thanking you for the expected, the unexpected and the quite extraordinary acts of kindness you have displayed.”
“You always listened and never made me feel as if I was preventing you from doing another job. You gave me your time. Thank you for your patience.”