"All staff polite, but had to wait for hours"

Dear JoanneW418

Thank you for reaching out about your recent stay on the Children’s unit, I’m sure having to retell your story wasn’t easy. We always welcome feedback, as sharing experiences help us improve on patient care significantly going forward.

I am so pleased that you found all of the staff polite, May I take this opportunity to apologise on behalf of everyone on the Paediatric Unit that your experience on the ward isn’t as it should have been. It’s always a really worrying time when your child is admitted to hospital, even more so when they need surgery. We pride ourselves on giving the best care, not only to our Children and young people but also to their parents and carers and I’m really saddened to hear that you haven’t experienced the care that we aim to give. I hope your son is recovering well following his surgery.

We do take all feedback very seriously, I have spoken with Caroline Jackson the Paediatric Matron regarding your concerns, and it would be really useful to get some more details about when you and your son attended Oak ward so we can look into this further. Caroline would welcome a conversation with you if you felt able to talk about your time on the unit and can be contacted via email caroline.jackson@somersetft.nhs.uk

Can I once again thank you for taking the time to give your feedback and say how very sorry I am that your stay was a difficult one.

Yours Sincerely

Ang Giles

Dear JoanneW418

Apologies for the delay in replying to you following your phone call with Stuart one of our ward managers. Thank you for taking the time to speak to him regarding your concerns.

I wanted to write and update you on Improvements that we are planning within the unit. We are in the process of completing a parent information leaflet which is almost ready to roll out, informing Parents what we can offer for the children and young people and their families in our care. Stuart and Caroline, our paediatric matron have done a walk around the unit to look at what additional equipment we might need in the ward to improve patient and family experiences.

We have raised with all staff in our monthly unit meeting the importance of ensuring parents and young people are shown where all the facilities are whilst on the ward and the importance of good clear communication. We have also highlighted the concerns you raised with regards to medication delays, no IV fluids being given, and we are reviewing our processes to see what improvements we can make.

I hope this gives you some reassurance that we do take all feedback very seriously, and once again I would like to thank you for your feedback to help us improve our service.

Yours sincerely

Angela Giles

Ward Lead Administrator