"Made to feel uneasy"

About: North Devon District Hospital / Radiology (X-ray) North Devon District Hospital Radiology (X-ray) Barnstaple EX31 4JB

Posted by Dim sun (as a service user), 12 months ago

I was very pleased and grateful to be invited for a Dexa Scan at the North Devon District Hospital.
I walked from the Reception and turned down what seemed like endless empty corridors devoid of both staff and patients. I arrived at the Dexa Scan Reception, which was closed due to it being the weekend and a notice in the window of the desk asked that I go and wait in the waiting room.
Straight away, a male nurse appeared who said he was doing my scan and thanked me for coming in on a weekend. He led me to the scanning room and closed the door. He was courteous and explained things in detail (far more thorough than my previous scan).
I then had to go and change for the scan. The scan took place and I then went and put my clothes back on and said good bye. Everything was in order and I can't fault the nurse or his professionalism.
However, I felt very uneasy. My complaint is that I was not warned that I would be alone with a male nurse in a desolate hospital. I appreciate there are staffing problems and strikes, but could I not have been warned what it would be like and could I not have been given the option to bring a chaperone. I think it was a failing and it needs to be addressed.

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Responses

Gill Kite

Superintendent Radiographer/Radiology Governance Lead (Northern Services), Radiology, North Devon District Hospital (Northern Services),

Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

I am a Diagnostic Radiographer with many years experience of working, and imaging patients, in all areas of the Radiology department. I am also responsible for the governance in Radiology and so make sure that we are compliant with the many ionising radiation regulations that dictate what we can and can't do in radiology, keep the patients and staff safe and ensure we are practicing safely. I also deal with our policies and procedures and oversee compliments, complaints and quality.

Submitted on 04/05/2023 at 15:12

Published on Care Opinion at 15:12

Dear Dim sun,
Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback following your DXA scan. I'm glad that on the whole your appointment went well and I'm sorry that you felt uneasy and weren't informed that there would be reduced staff or offered a chaperone for your weekend appointment.
We have been running extra clinics at the weekend for some time to help to reduce our waiting lists and although there would have been several more staff and patients in the department if they are already in x-ray rooms or another part of the department they are not easily visible. Patients are always able to ask for a chaperone and there are support staff at the weekend who can undertake this role for patients however I can only apologise that this was not offered to you.
I will raise your feedback with the DXA team so that they can adjust how they provide the weekend service, as well as the appointments team who can make sure that when they are arranging weekend appointments that they inform the patients about the reduced number of staff and give them the option to ask for, or bring, a chaperone with them.
I can only apologise for the oversight on this occasion.
Kind regards
Gill

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Update posted by Dim sun (a service user) 12 months ago

Thank you very much for your response and explanation. I do appreciate and very much regret the situation within the NHS and I want to be clear that I am very grateful to have been offered and given a scan.
If you can offer to female patients either the opportunity to have a chaperone or bring one that would be great.
I do want to be clear that the male nurse is in no way to blame for my uneasiness that was my own doing but I do think I would have been much happier had I had my husband in the room.
Many thanks

Gill Kite

Superintendent Radiographer/Radiology Governance Lead (Northern Services), Radiology, North Devon District Hospital (Northern Services),

Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

I am a Diagnostic Radiographer with many years experience of working, and imaging patients, in all areas of the Radiology department. I am also responsible for the governance in Radiology and so make sure that we are compliant with the many ionising radiation regulations that dictate what we can and can't do in radiology, keep the patients and staff safe and ensure we are practicing safely. I also deal with our policies and procedures and oversee compliments, complaints and quality.

Submitted on 05/05/2023 at 10:31

Published on Care Opinion at 10:31

Dear Dim sun,
Thank you for your response. We had a long discussion yesterday about the service provided and are looking at improving our signage in the department to include chaperone information and also how we deliver this information prior to appointments as well as at the time of appointments. Its always nice to receive feedback like yours as it helps us to improve our service for patients and think about our service from another perspective, so thank you.
Kind Regards
Gill

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Gill Kite

Superintendent Radiographer/Radiology Governance Lead (Northern Services), Radiology, North Devon District Hospital (Northern Services),

Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

I am a Diagnostic Radiographer with many years experience of working, and imaging patients, in all areas of the Radiology department. I am also responsible for the governance in Radiology and so make sure that we are compliant with the many ionising radiation regulations that dictate what we can and can't do in radiology, keep the patients and staff safe and ensure we are practicing safely. I also deal with our policies and procedures and oversee compliments, complaints and quality.

Submitted on 03/07/2023 at 13:41

Published on Care Opinion at 13:44

Dear Dim sun,
Just to let you know that following your feedback we have made a change; we now have improved signage in the department letting people know that a chaperone is available on request, also our admin team are letting people have this information prior to appointments so that they can bring someone with them to act in this role if they would prefer it to be someone they know.
Thank you again for leaving your initial feedback as it has helped us to make a small change that will improve our service for our patients.
Kind regards
Gill

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