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Pulmonary embolism

Posted By Fitzy dood

"Pulmonary embolism"

About: Crosshouse Hospital / Accident & Emergency Crosshouse Hospital / Intensive Care Unit

(as a service user),

I attended Crosshouse a&e with breathlessness. I was triaged very quickly but unfortunately due to how busy it was I had to wait about 4hrs to be seen. Once seen I was assessed quickly and bloods obtained. It was then things happened a bit quicker, I was suspected to have a PE due to my blood results.

I was admitted and although i had to sleep on a trolley i was checked on by staff regularly,early the next day I had a CT scan which confirmed large bilateral PE'S with right heart strain.

That night I was admitted to ITU for 48hrs for obs. The staff from a&e were amazing, but I wished to say a special thank you to the ward staff, they kept me sane especially the male auxiliary who made me laugh at such a serious time. Also to the night nurse who's name I can't remember who calmed me down when I became a bit anxious one night.

I did return to a&e just because I was so anxious but the staff were amazing and reassured me that I wasn't a nuisance, checked me over and gave me the all clear.

If I could maybe suggest one thing, the aftercare could be much better, when someone goes through something like this their mental health can be severely affected so some kind of group to talk things over would be great.

I have been lucky and all my further tests ie echo show no lasting damage.

The staff I met were a credit to Ayrshire and Arran and I just want to say thank you, I dont think I would be exaggerating if I said, they saved my life.

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Responses

Response from Pamela Gibson, Patient Experience Facilitator, Nursing, NHS Ayrshire and Arran 3 weeks ago
Pamela Gibson
Patient Experience Facilitator, Nursing,
NHS Ayrshire and Arran

Monitor stories and provide administration for NHS Ayrshire & Arran

Submitted on 31/07/2025 at 16:20
Published on Care Opinion at 16:20

picture of Pamela Gibson

Dear Fitzy dood

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience of the care provided within the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit at University Hospital Crosshouse.

I sorry to hear that you had a lengthy initial wait on arrival at the Emergency Department, but it is good to know that this quickly changed once your test results came though. It sounds as though it must have been very frightening and anxious time for you.

Thank you also for your suggestion on how we can make improvements to the aftercare for patients who are admitted to hospital in similar circumstances. Whilst we always aim to provide care that safe, caring and respectful, we do recognise that sometimes there is room for improvement and hearing of this directly from our patients is one of the best ways for us to learn. I have passed your comments to the ICU clinical team for them to reflect on this to see how it could be improved for any future patients who may have a similar experience.

I am glad that all your subsequent tests have shown no lasting damage and would like to offer my best wishes for your ongoing recovery and to thank you once again for taking the time to acknowledge your care experience.

Kind Regards

Pamela

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Response from Pauline Murray, Critical Care Recovery Co-Ordinator ICU, ICU, Crosshouse Hospital, NHS Ayrahire and Arran 3 weeks ago
We have made a change
Pauline Murray
Critical Care Recovery Co-Ordinator ICU, ICU, Crosshouse Hospital,
NHS Ayrahire and Arran

Submitted on 01/08/2025 at 09:22
Published on Care Opinion at 09:25

Dear Fitzy Dood,

Thank you for your feedback. We always strive to make improvements in our service.

We have a support group in Ayrshire called ICUsteps which is peer support for patients and their families who have experienced critical illness and high dependency care.

Here is the link to our support group: https://icusteps.org (you will find a link to email our Ayrshire group for further details) it is under the tab Support at the top of the home page. The next meeting is on Mon 4th August on zoom.

ICUsteps charity are currently undertaking a project in Scotland to improve awareness for staff, patients and families of the charity. Posters, leaflets and cards are currently being printed and will be sent to every critical care unit in Scotland. I am sorry they weren't available to you during your stay. I think this very much highlights the need for this literature.

Best wishes, in your on-going recovery,

Pauline

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