"We came for a full medical assessment"

Dear JOF

Thank you for sharing your feedback on Care Opinion. I am sorry to read the room you were waiting in for your assessment was hot and that there was nothing for you to do to take your mind off your appointment, especially as you were feeling a bit anxious.

To be able to share your story with the correct team, please could I ask you to let me know which hospital you attended and where the waiting room was located.

You can provide this information via Care Opinion or you can email me direct at Sarah.Johnson2@somersetft.nhs.uk. I hope your appointment went well and I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

Sarah

Hello JOF

Thank you so much for taking the time to write about your visit to the Children’s Out patient’s department recently.

I am so sorry to hear your visit was not as comfortable as it should have been. We definitely appreciate these appointments can be very worrisome for young people and to be given a welcoming space while waiting to see the doctor is hugely important to help make these visits easier.

We agree with you that our waiting area and activities need to be improved to better cater for young people, ensuring they have a better experience when they visit us.

I have shared your feedback with our senior doctors and nurses and we are exploring how we can make things better. We have already bought mini sofas to create a more comfortable space. I have shared your feedback with our outpatient colleagues to make them aware to ensure room temperatures are more comfortable. To make sure we get it right, we are going to undertake a survey asking young people to give us ideas on what activities they would like to see in our waiting room.

It would be great to hear about any ideas you may have to help us improve things as well. We would very much like to talk you about your visit. If you would like to talk to us too then you can email our Matrons, Caroline Jackson or Suzy Mason directly, via Caroline.Jackson@Somersetft.nhs.uk and Suzy.Mason@somersetft.nhs.uk, to organise a time to talk.

We will also update you when we have confirmed the changes we plan to make to the Children’s Outpatients waiting area to make it a better experience for all our young people to visit.

Your feedback is incredibly useful, it helps us make changes for the better, so thank you again!

All the very best.

Dr Holly