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Pain during procedure

Posted By Egghead123

"Pain during procedure"

About: Outpatients / Haematology (Clinical)

(as a service user),

I am writing to provide feedback on my recent experiences at the Haematology Clinic in Newtownards.

Each time a particular nurse performs my venesection, I experience significant pain both during the procedure and for up to a week afterwards. On my most recent visit, I believe my vein was blown (i.e., punctured through), as the discomfort was especially severe and long-lasting. This does not happen when other nurses carry out the procedure.

Due to the ongoing pain and discomfort, I consulted my GP, who confirmed that I had indeed suffered a blown vein as a result of the venesection.

During this last appointment, I also overheard the same nurse mention to a colleague that their previous patient had experienced the same problem—presumably as a result of their technique causing another blown vein to a clinic patient. The nurse also seemed aware and conscientious of their own difficulties with venesection, which made them appear panicky during my procedure and did not inspire confidence. This added to my discomfort and concern.

This ongoing pain has made recovery more difficult and affected my daily activities, which has been distressing. It has also impacted my confidence in attending for future treatment.

Furthermore, since the clinic became nurse-led, I have noticed a difference in the management of the clinic. It feels different to when it was a Doctor led clinic. When the clinic was doctor-led, it felt much more supportive and better organised. As a result, the clinic now feels less approachable and less supportive. I have also heard clinic staff make similar comments to patients.

I wanted to bring these points to your attention for your awareness and in case any further support or training might be helpful for the nurse involved.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I appreciate the overall care provided by your team.

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Responses

Response from Sharon Moore, Sister, Ards Outpatients, South Eastern HSC Trust last month
Sharon Moore
Sister, Ards Outpatients,
South Eastern HSC Trust

Submitted on 17/06/2025 at 10:13
Published on Care Opinion at 10:50

Good morning,

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback through Care Opinion about your recent appointment in Ards outpatients department.

I am sorry to hear that you had a negative experience which has come as a surprise considering the amount of positive feedback we have had for our nurse led clinic. The nurses in the department have a wealth of knowledge and experience behind their practice and pride themselves in providing quality care.

I would appreciate it if you could contact me directly to further explore the issues you have raised and agree a plan of care going forward that you would be happy with.

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Update posted by Egghead123 (a service user)

Dear Sister Moore,

Thank you again for your reply and for your willingness to discuss my concerns further.

I noticed you referred to what happened as a “negative experience.” I appreciate that this is a commonly used term, but I hope you will understand that, for me, it was much more than that. I would be grateful if my feedback could be understood in this light, as the effects have been significant for me and may be important for others as well.

I appreciate that you and your team are proud of the care you provide. I hope that this does not prevent a genuine reflection on incidents where care may fall short, as learning from such experiences is key to improvement.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my perspective. If possible, I would welcome any information through this platform about steps the clinic might take to reduce the risk of pain or injury during venesection, as I feel this could make a real difference for patients in similar situations.

Kind regards

Response from Colin Patterson, Governance, Involvement & Experience Lead, Safe & Effective Care, South Eastern HSC Trust last month
Colin Patterson
Governance, Involvement & Experience Lead, Safe & Effective Care,
South Eastern HSC Trust

Hello, I am the Governance, Involvement and Experience Lead for the South Eastern Trust. I help the experience team work with everyone across the trust, both staff and our service users to promote care that is safe and effective using patient/client/carer experience to help shape the care we deliver.

Submitted on 17/06/2025 at 13:59
Published on Care Opinion at 14:44

picture of Colin Patterson

Dear Egghead123,

My name is Colin Patterson. My position is Governance, Experience and Involvement manager, with a leading role in improving the service user experience - this includes stories on Care Opinion.

Can I thank you for taking the time to post your recent experience of the haematology clinic in Ards Hospital. I am very sorry to learn of this experience and the impact it has had on you.

I have connected with Sister Moore, and we are planning to meet as a service leadership in the middle of next week to review your experience and explore the elements for change and improvement opportunities. Following this we will publish on this platform the learning and plans to improve.

Again, I apologise to you for the elements of your journey that fell below the expected standard and I thank you for sharing.

Best wishes

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Response from Sharon Moore, Sister, Ards Outpatients, South Eastern HSC Trust last month
We are preparing to make a change
Sharon Moore
Sister, Ards Outpatients,
South Eastern HSC Trust

Submitted on 30/06/2025 at 08:56
Published on Care Opinion at 10:19

Dear Egghead123 many thanks for your response and I appreciate you sharing your recent experience and thoughts of Ards outpatients. It is vital to have this feedback to enable us to continue to make changes and improvements to our service and I am grateful for this opportunity to look at how I can improve the service. I respect your decision to keep this conversation on this platform and remain anonymous.

I apologise that you suffered a blown vein (of which we refer to this a haematoma) as a result of your recent venesection in Ard’s outpatients with associated pain and bruising that effected your daily activities. This is not a commonly seen outcome from a venesection procedure, however haematoma’s are one of the documented possible complications.

In your story you shared that you overheard a nurse mention a previous patient that same day having experienced the same complications. I have discussed this with all the nurses and none of the nurses or myself had any recollection of having consecutive patients with the same complication in one session. However, I have reinforced with my team to ensure that if this happens, that this is highlighted and addressed at our daily staff safety briefing sessions as our department prides itself in working within the Trust values of an open and honest environment.

Myself and my team all have many years of experience in carrying out venesections, and as a result of your story I have checked that all staff training is up to date and I can inform you that we have all either recently attended or about to attend an update session. Some of the team have recently visited other Trust clinics to find out if there are any learning points/skills that we can bring into our practice to continue improving patient outcomes in the venesection clinic. I have raised this story at our team meeting where I have asked if everyone feels confident and competent and offered further training if needed.

Addressing your comment around the previous consultant led venesection clinic and your feelings that the clinic has become less approachable, the consultant led clinic ceased when they retired. Every other venesection clinic in the Trust is nurse facilitated and has been for many years so it was the natural progression for my department to follow this tried and tested model with support from the consultant haematologists, who although not on site at the time of the clinic, communicate closely with us and are more accessible. Naturally, as with any change it took some time for the team to feel comfortable and readjust to this new way of working. There were difficulties and challenges for staff and patients alike during this transition period however the continual positive feedback from patients has praised the department’s enhanced communication and approachability regarding their care, new flexibility and ease of access to the service.

We continually review our practice through supervision and the Trust are currently in the process of updating the policy and guidelines for venesections. Meetings are planned over the coming months to review and update these documents. Updated patient information leaflets and consent forms will be included in this process and all staff will share this with our patients. Your story evidences that this has needed to take place and will be part of the influence during these discussions. I will endeavour to provide an update to you on Care Opinion when this piece of work is completed.

I do hope this response provides some reassurance and appropriately considers your perspective and highlights some of the learning and improvements we are striving to take to better your journey and make a difference for patients in similar situations.

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