This is Care Opinion [siteRegion]. Did you want Care Opinion [usersRegionBasedOnIP]?

"Discharge from hospital"

About: Royal Alexandra Hospital / Discharge lounge Royal Alexandra Hospital / Pharmacy

(as a relative),

My mum is in her 80s  and was told she would be discharged on a Monday morning and left her ward at 12:30hrs to wait in the Discharge Lounge for medicines and pick up.

By 17:30hrs we were still waiting on a prescription and discharge letter. On asking the nurse in charge it was discovered my mum was not getting any new medication only an adjustment to dosage on existing meds. The discharge letter had not been completed and the meds were still outstanding from pharmacy after 5 hours.

This length of time in a waiting room was very uncomfortable for my mum. Some patients came and went while we still waited, however there were 2 patients who had been waiting longer than my mum.

Not sure where the blame lies here - most people will say staffing, however I think maybe some processes and procedures could be reviewed.

I eventually took my mum home and the staff nurse was to call me when the discharge letter and meds were ready. The staff nurse did call however this was to advise the change in meds and that the prescription and letter would not be ready that night. Staff nurse was very apologetic and helpful. A poor service though between wards and pharmacy 

Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Nicole McInally, Patient Experience and Public Involvement Project Manager, PEPI, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 3 weeks ago
Nicole McInally
Patient Experience and Public Involvement Project Manager, PEPI,
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Submitted on 02/04/2024 at 08:38
Published on Care Opinion at 08:38


picture of Nicole McInally

Posted on behalf of Jennifer Crawford, Pharmacy Department, Royal Alexandra Hospital

Dear Phoenixje66

We are sorry to hear of your mum's experience in the discharge lounge as she waited for her discharge letter and medications. Pharmacy turnaround times to supply medicines are usually no more than 1 hour, once a prescription has been received and checked, if this request is completed after 4pm this would be carried forward to the next day. Pharmacy are trialling a project with community pharmacies in North of Glasgow, where patients can be discharged home and collect their prescription from the local designated community pharmacy, reducing the need to wait at hospital at all. We appreciate that this option may not be suitable for all patients and feedback like yours, will help us to continually review processes between wards and the hospital pharmacy to aid the production of timely discharge letters, we will investigate this locally to look for any further improvements that can be made.

Kind Regards

Jennifer

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Response from Nicole McInally, Patient Experience and Public Involvement Project Manager, PEPI, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 3 weeks ago
Nicole McInally
Patient Experience and Public Involvement Project Manager, PEPI,
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Submitted on 02/04/2024 at 09:13
Published on Care Opinion at 09:13


picture of Nicole McInally

Dear Phenoixje66

I am sorry to hear of your Mum’s lengthy wait in the Discharge Lounge and please pass on my apologies to your Mum.

The discharge lounge has been specifically designed for patients to wait for their transport home, family or medications in comfortable surroundings and has trained staff in the lounge at all times. I apologise for the delay whilst waiting for the discharge letter and medication. Your feedback has been shared with the Discharge Team and Pharmacy to see how we can avoid these issues happening. Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback.

Best wishes

Nicole

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k