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The walk was too far for me

Posted By farmerles

"The walk was too far for me"

About: North Devon District Hospital / Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery North Devon District Hospital / Outpatients

(as the patient),

I attended an appointment at the dental ward at NDDH. I have a three wheel walking trolley and carry two portable oxygen bottles when I am on journeys away from my home.

The department in question must surely be in the farthest location from the front entrance. The walk to get there was all the way on level O to use the lift to get to level one, and then what seemed a half marathon - long corridors, corner after corner, until, gasping for breath and on my knees, I finally reached the Dental Dept. check in desk.

The surgeon and his dental nurse were excellent in my treatment, and as a bonus, I came away much wiser regarding each and all my medications,and their affect on my kidneys/urine.

Although a porter was offered and ordered at the end of my consultation, none such appeared. I waited some 20 minutes in vain, and as my portable oxygen was getting low,  I excused myself and struggled all the way back to the main entrance.. The Dental Dept. was pre - warned by my dentist as the reason  (me being on 6ltrsmin oxygen) due to COPD  and needing to drive home to Clawton, so I would have hoped for help with my predicament.

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Responses

Response from Service Manager - Outpatients (Northern services), Outpatient Department (Northern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 2 years ago
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 16/02/2023 at 14:05
Published on Care Opinion at 16:50

Hello

I am so sorry that you had to struggle to walk to the department and back again.

I will speak to the booking team in relation to letting services know if this is recorded so that we can all pick this up and arrange for you to be met at the door and taken and then return and hopefully on time.

I am really please to hear that you had an excellent consultation but apologise for the service we provided.

Service Manager

Outpatients

Response from Samantha Ellaway, Dental Nurse, Maxillofacial & Orthodontics (Northern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 2 years ago
We are preparing to make a change
Samantha Ellaway
Dental Nurse, Maxillofacial & Orthodontics (Northern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Maxillofacial and Orthodontics nurse

Submitted on 01/03/2023 at 11:30
Published on Care Opinion at 11:47

picture of Samantha Ellaway

Dear farmerles,

We are very sorry to hear you struggled with the distance to our department and was not warned prior to seeing us. We have asked for a change to our letters to pre warn patients about how far our department is from the main entrance..

I am very pleased to hear your consultation with us was very good and you felt well informed.

Best wishes

Samantha Ellaway

Dental Nurse

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Response from Angela Morley, Service Manager - Outpatients (Northern services), Outpatient Department (Northern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 2 years ago
Angela Morley
Service Manager - Outpatients (Northern services), Outpatient Department (Northern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 01/03/2023 at 12:41
Published on Care Opinion at 13:22

Angie Morley, Service Manager Outpatients

Thank you Sammy for your response. Yes we were all sorry to hear the patient struggled. We are asking it to be added to the letters which may take a couple of weeks but in the meantime we have asked for the booking team to inform patients of the distance.

Please take care and hopefully we will put everything in place.

Appreciate you letting us know your issues.

Thanks

Angie

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Response from Angela Morley, Service Manager - Outpatients (Northern services), Outpatient Department (Northern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust nearly 2 years ago
We have made a change
Angela Morley
Service Manager - Outpatients (Northern services), Outpatient Department (Northern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 18/07/2023 at 14:43
Published on Care Opinion at 14:47

Just to let you know the letters have all been adjusted appropriately to help all future patients to the department.

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