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Communication system a letdown

Posted By beidez46

"Communication system a letdown"

About: North Devon District Hospital / Urology

(as the patient),

I needed some advice quite quickly on self-catheterization and tried to get through to the Urology department with no joy. The phone line either rings and rings with no answer, tells you the inbox is full and cannot accept messages or is answered by a quite stark voice asking you to leave a message and your call will be returned – it is not!

After numerous attempts I gave up trying and instead rang the secretary of my consultant – they also tried to connect me to the urology department with no success!

I was left with no other option than to go to my GP practice for the advice I needed. This was gratefully received but I wanted the advice and answers from the hospital that are currently dealing with me!

The current communication system is wrong and the system needs to be readdressed.

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Responses

Response from Paula Howells, Senior Medical Secretary (Northern Services), Urology Team (Northern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust nearly 2 years ago
Paula Howells
Senior Medical Secretary (Northern Services), Urology Team (Northern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

I have worked in the NHS for over 35 years as a senior Medical Secretary in various specialties. I currently work in the Urology Department providing PA services to the clinical team.

Submitted on 01/09/2023 at 14:56
Published on Care Opinion at 15:47

picture of Paula Howells

Dear beidez46

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to leave your feedback. I am sorry to hear that you had communication difficulties with our Urology Department on numerous occasions. I understand how frustrating this must be when you need advice fairly quickly.

If you would like to contact me directly either by email - paula.howells@nhs.net or by telephone - 01271 314129 and give me your name and NHS number I can look into the problems you had and where the difficulty arose. Our Urology Nurses, who can advise on catheter problems, have a direct line - 01271 311877. I know that they do deal with a high volume of calls on a daily basis but usually try to return the call as soon as they can. As you know each Consultant Urologist has a secretary who can also help to get some advice for you.

Again I apologise that we did not provide a good service for you on this occasion but please contact me if you would like any further assistance.

Kind regards

Paula

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Response from Ansu Manoj, Urology Clinical Nurse Specialist (Northern services), Cancer Services (Northern), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust nearly 2 years ago
Ansu Manoj
Urology Clinical Nurse Specialist (Northern services), Cancer Services (Northern),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 05/09/2023 at 10:58
Published on Care Opinion at 10:59

picture of Ansu Manoj

Thank you for taking the time to Leave us a feedback. I apologise for the inconvenience caused by our phone system. I have been informed that the issue has been resolved. If you experience any problems reaching us, please let me know and I will try my best to sort it out accordingly. Our Contact number is 0127131877.

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