"Staff didn't acknowledge me by name"

Hello,

My name is Claire, I am the acting ward manager on ward 22. Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback. My apologies for the late reply back, as acting manager I wanted to respond myself and therefore had to seek training for this platform.

I am sorry to read about you lengthy stay in an escalation space. This is not ideal and not what we would want for our patients. Escalation spaces are not our preferred bed spaces, however due to the ongoing pressures on the organisation and the need to transfer patients from ED for further treatment these last resort measures which are not taken lightly but required in order to treat patients who require clinical interventions. I have shared your story with senior management who are also aware of escalation bed space usage on the wards.

In relation to staff addressing you as ‘alcove’, I can only imagine they were referring to the area you were bedded in and not you personally. However I can understand how this may have made you feel and have addressed this to all staff in the ward so that going forward no patient is left to feel this way again.

I have shared your story with all nursing staff at our daily briefing meetings and to medical staff regarding the lack of communication relating to your plan of care. I have advised them to ensure they are updating their patients on their medical plans on a daily basis.

We have already raised the issue of the lack of call bell system within the escalation spaces on the ward. This is something we are currently working on improving.

Again, I can appreciate an escalation space is not an ideal setting for receiving clinical care and we thank you for addressing this with us.

Wishing you all the very best

Kind Regards.

Claire Harkin