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So many nurses trying to do their best

Posted By withappreciation

"So many nurses trying to do their best"

About: Raigmore Hospital / Ear, Nose & Throat

(as the patient),

I had an ENT procedure yesterday under general anaesthesia (after a two year wait) . Surgical and Theatre team were excellent.

However my night on the ENT ward was very uncomfortable and disrupted by the ongoing screaming of a challenging patient in the next room who appeared to be inappropriately placed in an acute ward. The staff were run ragged as so busy and many agency staff.

Food was awful (unhealthy stodge) as compared to another admission 12 years ago. I was surprised by this as previously food was always very good at Raigmore. I guess this is due to budget cuts.

So many lovely nurses trying to do their best but the budget cuts and pressures on the NHS  so obvious. I feel sad seeing this decline.

There needs to be better strategies to manage the needs of patients with complex and challenging needs who are placed in acute wards in hospitals as this is not the right environment for them when there are others who have acute needs e.g. post surgery. An idea would be the creation of a post acute ward/convalescent type ward for folk who need a longer stay or who are delayed discharges.

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Responses

Response from Sylvia Fraser, Clinical Governance Facilitator & NHS Highland Operational Lead for Care Opinion, Clinical Governance, NHS Highland 17 months ago
Sylvia Fraser
Clinical Governance Facilitator & NHS Highland Operational Lead for Care Opinion, Clinical Governance,
NHS Highland

I am part of the overall team who manages complaints for NHS Highland and are known as the Feedback Team. We offer patients, relatives, MPs/MSPs, staff and anyone who requires assistance is registering a concern or formal complaint.

Submitted on 05/02/2024 at 09:16
Published on Care Opinion at 09:16

picture of Sylvia Fraser

Dear Withappreciation

Thank you for your communication highlighting your experience during your admission to Raigmore Hospital.

Jane Henderson, Divisional Nurse Manager would like to thank you personally for taking the time to provide NHS Highland with your feedback. She is really happy to hear that you had such a good experience during your ENT procedure in theatre and that you were well cared for.

We fully recognise that your recovery experience was not ideal, and would like to offer you a sincere apology that you had an uncomfortable night.

The ward staff are trying very hard to look after patients in the correct clinical setting, however, unfortunately due to system wide pressures this is not always possible. The teams in acute and community services are fully aware that bed allocation is not always appropirate but they are reviewing this on a daily basis. Please accept our apology that this affecting your admission.

Crawford Howat, Facilites Manager would like to apologise for the food quality. Should you ever be back in Raigmore Hospital again then we would recommend that you ask the nursing staff to make contact with the Catering Manager, Mrs Wendy Graham, who would be more than happy to come up and meet with you to discuss any concerns you may have.

We fully appreciate you bringing this to our attention and can confirm that this has passed to the catering management team in order that this can be monitored.

I hope that following your discharge you are recovering well from your procedure.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact us via Care Opinion in order to raise your concerns. Feedback is very important, and will inform us of any changes to procedures, or services for all NHS Highland patients.

With best wishes

Sylvia

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