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Emergency colorectal surgery

Posted By ikmac

"Emergency colorectal surgery"

About: North Devon District Hospital / Accident and emergency North Devon District Hospital / Colorectal surgery & stoma care North Devon District Hospital / Discharge Lounge Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford) / Intensive & Critical Care Unit South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust / Emergency ambulance

(as the patient),

Sudden admission for a procedure that had been originally planned for three weeks after!

Felt well looked after by ambulance, accident and emergency dept and surgery .... never felt I wasn't being kept informed.

ICT + ward for 6 nights .... generally very supportive but my inability to take drink + food after 3 days seemed to be a surprise for some nurses. 

As I understand is common, the discharge wait for pharmacy supplies was terribly disorganised which gave my transport support difficulties.

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Responses

Response from Gemma Bird, Medicines Safety and Quality Pharmacy Technician, Pharmacy - Northern, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust last month
Gemma Bird
Medicines Safety and Quality Pharmacy Technician, Pharmacy - Northern,
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 10/10/2025 at 15:10
Published on Care Opinion at 15:12

Dear Ikmac,

Thank you for your feedback. I’m pleased to hear you felt well supported during your stay, though I’m sorry the wait for your discharge medication supplies felt disorganised.

While I can’t comment on the specific details of your experience, I can share a bit about how the discharge process works from the Pharmacy perspective. Pharmacy aims for discharge prescriptions to take around two hours to complete, but this can vary depending on several factors such as when the doctor writes the prescription, when we are notified of the prescription, and the complexity.

Although it can sometimes feel like a long wait for the medication to arrive back on the ward, please know that this time is being carefully used to make sure everything is accurate and, most importantly, safe. Each prescription goes through a thorough review before it’s released to ensure the medication is right for you.

If you’d like me to look into your experience in more detail, please don’t hesitate to get in touch directly.

Kind regards,

Gemma - Medicine Safety and Quality Pharmacy Technician

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Response from Elizabeth Elsey, Consultant Surgeon (Northern Services), Colorectal Surgery/ Lundy Ward/ KGV Ward/ General Surgery (Northern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 4 weeks ago
Elizabeth Elsey
Consultant Surgeon (Northern Services), Colorectal Surgery/ Lundy Ward/ KGV Ward/ General Surgery (Northern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 15/10/2025 at 21:04
Published on Care Opinion on 16/10/2025 at 09:38

Dear ikamc,

Many thanks for taking the time to post some feedback. It is useful to us and appreciated.

I am sorry to hear that you were admitted for emergency surgery but glad that everything went smoothly and you felt well looked after. We do educate our regular ward nurses regularly about oral intake after bowel surgery. I wonder if your individual case was slightly different to our usual cases, having been operated on as an emergency. We will continue to educate our team members in this regard.

I hope you are continuing to make a good recovery.

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Update posted by ikmac (the patient)

Hi Elizabeth

Didn't mean to be so critical. They were all lovely really ... in particular Mrs Yeadon!

Response from Elizabeth Elsey, Consultant Surgeon (Northern Services), Colorectal Surgery/ Lundy Ward/ KGV Ward/ General Surgery (Northern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 4 weeks ago
Elizabeth Elsey
Consultant Surgeon (Northern Services), Colorectal Surgery/ Lundy Ward/ KGV Ward/ General Surgery (Northern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 16/10/2025 at 14:06
Published on Care Opinion at 14:11

Thank you. I will pass that on to Mrs Yeadon!

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Response from Sophie Hutchings, Governance and Operational Support Manager (Northern Services), Emergency Department (Northern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 3 weeks ago
Sophie Hutchings
Governance and Operational Support Manager (Northern Services), Emergency Department (Northern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 17/10/2025 at 13:16
Published on Care Opinion at 13:16

Dear ikmac,

Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback. I am sorry to hear of your sudden admission for emergency colorectal surgery. I am glad to hear you felt well looked after whilst in the emergency department and that you didn't feel like you weren't kept informed.

I will ensure that your feedback is shared with the wider Emergency Department team and I hope you are recovering well at home.

Best wishes

Sophie Hutchings
ED Governance & Operational Support Manager

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