"The care received has been brilliant"

Dear pictorqy36,

As the clinical nurse manager for Lochranza ward, I am very pleased to hear your lovely comments about the treatment your child has received when on Lochranza ward and that all of the staff have had such a positive affect on you and your child's experience.

I am disappointed to hear that you feel the Teenage Cancer Trust area appears to be underused and that there is not enough in terms of activities provided, as this is not usually the case or what we are trying to achieve in this area of the ward. I am very grateful for your comments and please be assured that I will speak with the team that work in this area and look at how this can be improved. I will also look into the jukebox and TV as these should absolutely be in working order.

Thank you for taking the time to highlight this to us and I hope your child continues to have a positive experience when in Lochranza and gets through what must be an incredibly difficult time for you all.

Nicola (CNM)

Hello There,

Firstly, I would like to thank you for your feedback and apologise if you feel that your support from Teenage Cancer Trust has fallen short of expectations. You are absolutely right there are some technical issues with the Snug just now which I have identified and have already escalated to the Teenage Cancer Trust unit maintenance team. The Jukebox has an ongoing issue which they are trying to address, and I am pleased to report that the TV/Sky box was recently fixed.

I would love for the Snug to be a hub of activity on the ward and I encourage young people to make use of it whenever possible. You will no doubt appreciate that it is often challenging to tempt young people out of their rooms to try activities while they are on treatment, which means that much of my support takes place at the bedside. For the past year we have been holding our regular Lego/Games Club in the Snug which inpatients are welcome to attend when they are feeling up to it, as well as other activities for groups of patients when appropriate.

I am always open to receive feedback to improve our services for young people and families and I welcome any suggestions which will improve young people’s experience as inpatients. I would be keen to hear any specific ideas you have for activities or resources you would like to see added to the ward. I will be taking some time to reflect on this feedback and continue to improve the support available for young people on Lochranza.

Warm Regards,

Conor Smart, Youth Support Coordinator