Care Opinion

Text size

Theme

Language

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

Let down by poor care

Posted By BigYin81

"Let down by poor care"

About: Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France / Accident & Emergency Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France / Acute Medical Unit Scottish Ambulance Service / Patient Transport Service

(as a relative),

My father, who is palliative, had a request made for hospital transport to take him to the hospital. It was 12hrs later before ambulance was able to take him in

The A&E staff were brilliant and had done tests and confirmed he needed to start a medication but that they would let the AMU ward give it in the morning so he could get a few hours sleep as he was shattered.  

When he was moved to AMU, no medications given, no obs taken or anything until a doctor finally came to see him - this was despite numerous requests to nursing staff.  It then took over an hour after the doctor seen him before any medication was given.

I was let down  by the care and compassion shown by all the nursing staff in AMU.  None of them checked in on him, did not listen to his or his wife’s concerns, did not chase up with a doctor and basically were just leaving him in the corner to get worse!

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

Responses

Response from Kirsti Smith, Senior Charge Nurse, Acute Medical Unit, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh - NHS Lothian 3 weeks ago
Kirsti Smith
Senior Charge Nurse, Acute Medical Unit,
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh - NHS Lothian

Submitted on 17/10/2025 at 10:24
Published on Care Opinion at 10:27

Hi,

I an saddened to hear your families experience within the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) on this occasion was not what was expected. This is not what we strive for within AMU and I would like to apologise for your families experience during this admission.

I would be grateful if I could look into this further in order for us to make improvements to our service. If you are able I can be contacted through the AMU Nurse in Charge on 0131 242 1409 or alternatively NHS Lothian has a robust feedback procedure through our Patient experience team who can be contacted by the details below.

You can contact the Patient Experience Team:

By telephone

0131 536 3370 (Mon-Fri, 9am to 2pm)

By email

LOTH.Feedback@nhs.scot

Thank you for your feedback.

Kirsti Smith, Clinical Nurse Manager, Acute Medical Unit

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Response from Marie Kennedy, Patient Experience Manager, Corporate Affairs, Scottish Ambulance Service last week
Marie Kennedy
Patient Experience Manager, Corporate Affairs,
Scottish Ambulance Service

Submitted on 28/10/2025 at 09:58
Published on Care Opinion at 09:58

picture of Marie Kennedy

Dear BigYin81,

I'm deeply sorry for the delay your father experienced for hospital transport especially in his vulnerable condition. Please accept my sincerest apologies on behalf of the Scottish Ambulance Service. I would like to look into the delay in more detail but in order to do so I will need some further details from you if you are willing to provide them. If you can please provide your father's name, date, time and address of the call out sent to sas.feedback@nhs.scot so we can match it with the information in our system. Please also include your Care Opinion username.

Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback especially at such a difficult time. It is really important that we receive such feedback so we can improve our services.

Warm wishes,

Marie

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by BigYin81 (a relative)

Thank you to Kirsti for looking into it. Transpired that my father had been taken to the ward during handover and was never “booked onto” the ward so the staff didn’t know he was there as was not on the computer. Even although he was clearly on a bed in the ward and staff were being asked questions about him no one seemed to check. We have been told that ward staff training is going to be done.

Marie - the ambulance staff were brilliant once it was recategorised through a 999 call and the ambulance did arrive promptly after the 999 call being placed. We fully appreciate that ambulance transport is not a priority in the bigger picture of saving lives and also that an actual ambulance was required for the transport and not just assistance from the non-ambulance transport. Thank you for your kind words and reply.

Response from Marie Kennedy, Patient Experience Manager, Corporate Affairs, Scottish Ambulance Service last week
Marie Kennedy
Patient Experience Manager, Corporate Affairs,
Scottish Ambulance Service

Submitted on 28/10/2025 at 13:27
Published on Care Opinion at 13:27

picture of Marie Kennedy

Thanks BigYin81 for responding and clarifying. I'm pleased to hear that you found the ambulance service to be helpful. Wishing you and your family peace and comfort at this difficult time. Thanks again for getting in touch.

Warmest wishes,

Marie

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