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Consideration needed

Posted By saturndj77

"Consideration needed"

About: North Devon District Hospital / Cardiology

(as the patient),

I have heart problems and I am very hard of hearing and wear two aids.  I have been told I will have a telephone consultation for my next appointment, which to me is not ideal. However, my previous face-to-face appointment wasn't great either.

I told the member of staff on reception that I am very hard of hearing (almost fully deaf) and I wear a badge that says I am deaf, but they shrugged this off very casually saying there was nothing in my notes.

The consultant did not make me feel any better when I asked if they could look directly at me so that I could lipread, they sort of tutted and I felt that I had been told off. 

I would like to remind people that not all disabilities and visible.

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Responses

Response from Emma Barrie, Operations Manager Cardiology & Cardio-Respiratory (Northern Services), Medicine (Northern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 4 months ago
Emma Barrie
Operations Manager Cardiology & Cardio-Respiratory (Northern Services), Medicine (Northern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 07/03/2025 at 15:16
Published on Care Opinion at 16:23

Dear Saturndj77,

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. I'm very sorry to hear that your recent appointments have not met your needs and that you felt unsupported in communicating with out staff. This is certainly not the experience we want for our patients and understand how important it is to feel heard, respected and supported during your care.

I would like to look into this further to ensure that we address this with the relevant teams and progress any relevant adjustments to support you and other patients with similar needs in future.

If you are willing, please could I kindly ask for you to contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PAL), so that we can gather more details and raise your concerns accordingly.

Once again, we sincerely apologise for your experience and appreciate you bringing this to our attention.

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Response from Teresa Sturm, Matron, Patient Experience Team, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 4 months ago
Teresa Sturm
Matron, Patient Experience Team,
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

My role as matron in the patient experience team covers both northern and eastern services at Royal Devon.

Submitted on 10/03/2025 at 10:24
Published on Care Opinion at 10:24

picture of Teresa Sturm

Dear Saturndj77,

Thank you for sharing your story. I can see that the service manager from cardiology has responded to you. My name is Teresa and I am the patient experience matron at Royal Devon. If you can email my team your name and date of birth we can review your health record and make sure that it is highlighted that you are hard of hearing so it is visible for all staff when they are considering clinic bookings and communication. Please email us at rduh.patientexperience@nhs.net

I would like to reassure you that staff do have access to deaf awareness training and accessible information standard. We can of course review the telephone clinic as that would not be suitable for you.

Best wishes,

Teresa

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