Care Opinion

Text size

Theme

Language

Videos in BSL or ISL
Help with language translation
Help with reading or listening

Pre-op phone assessment

Posted By Rock1996

"Pre-op phone assessment"

About: Altnagelvin Area Hospital / Day Case unit Altnagelvin Area Hospital / Pre-op assessment Outpatients Department / Clinic 1 - Gynaecology

(as the patient),

I found out that I would receive a pre-operation assessment on the my care ni account. I didn't receive any letter to confirm this assessment from Altnagelvin hospital. If I hadn't had access to my care ni I wouldn't have known about it until the text message I received the day before.

The person who eventually phoned me 45 minutes after the actual time of my arranged time didn't apologise for the delay.

The nurse who carried out the assessment didn't seem to understand how anxious I was about the procedure I'm having. I don't feel that the hospital really explained everything to me before I agreed to be admitted.

I feel more scared now than I did before the phone call. I feel like the goal posts keep changing when it comes to what I'm agreeing to. Patients need to be absolutely sure and well informed BEFORE they sign any consent form. Since January this year, I have been unhappy with the communication from Altnagelvin. 

More about:
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Michelle Scott, Patient Client Experience Lead, Professional Nursing and AHP, Western Health and Social Care Trust 2 months ago
Michelle Scott
Patient Client Experience Lead, Professional Nursing and AHP,
Western Health and Social Care Trust

I am the gatekeeper of Care Opinion and 10,000 voices quality improvement initiative for the Western Health and Social Care Trust

Submitted on 20/08/2025 at 17:41
Published on Care Opinion at 17:41

picture of Michelle Scott

Hello Rock1996,

My name is Michelle Scott Patient Client Experience Lead for the Trust.

Thank you for taking the time to share your pre-op assessment experience with us. I have been liaising with the pre-op assessment team as the manager who responds is on leave and we wanted to ensure a timely response. The following is from the senior lead of the team

"Hello Rock1996, my name is Carla and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for sharing your story with us. I have shared your story with the team and with senior management of the service to highlight your story. We are sorry to learn you did not receive any appointment letter we are aware of postal issues recently and we apologies for any inconvenience this causes. We have been liaising with Royal mail about this. I was happy to hear you received notification through the My Care app, we appreciate you sharing this information with us.

In regards to the nurse who carried out your assessment, I have reiterated to all staff in the team the importance of good communication, making sure patients feel informed and understand all the information given during an assessment and to ensure informed consent is obtained correctly. I would like to extend an invite to contact the dept. if you still feel unsure, worried or anxious in the hope we can alleviate this for you. please feel free to contact the dept. on 02871345171 ext. 214076 / 213533. kind regards Carla."

I hope you find this response useful and I would also like to extend the invite to speak with myself in confidence. you can reach me on 07833402847

kind regards

Michelle Scott

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k