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"Attitude of staff members"

About: Braid Valley Hospital and Ballymena Health and Care Centre / Podiatry

(as the patient),

I used to visit podiatry in another area. The staff were fantastic. Sadly I moved and had to transfer to Ballymena.  

In my experience, the staff at B'mena health care basically do not know how to speak to people.  

The first visit the podiatrist accused me of lying as I am not on bilogics for my Psoriatic arthritis. The second occasion the same podiatrist was very rude yet again, same podiatrist.  

I visited recently,  as my annual diabetes screening was due, sadly it wasn't a clinician who saw me it was a support worker, who argued with me that I can get foot cream on prescription no I can't, my surgery will not issue a script for it. 

I have severe CPTSD and struggle to leave the house,  I told them as soon as I went into the room, that I need to go home, as the whole thing is distressing me, after the member of staff had done two tests I went to put my socks on, they started laughing, saying -  You are in a bit of a hurry. I reiterated that being out of the house was distressing.  

I do not appreciate being laughed at, every time I come to podiatry at B'mena health centre, I feel like I am treated like dirt.

I will not be back, I will get a loan from my father in law to go private.

Sadly, I believe B'mena health centre podiatry has a culture of treating the patients like dirt, 

Again I will not be back. In my view, your staff need training in dealing with people who have PTSD. 

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Responses

Response from Stephen McAlister, Deputy Podiatry Manager, Podiatry, NHSCT yesterday
Stephen McAlister
Deputy Podiatry Manager, Podiatry,
NHSCT
Submitted on 27/01/2026 at 14:24
Published on Care Opinion at 15:38


Dear PSA Warrior,

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. I am very sorry to read how distressed you felt following your interactions with our Podiatry Service.

As a service, we aim to treat every patient with dignity, respect and compassion, and I am concerned to read that this has not been your experience.

It would not be appropriate to discuss staff interactions or individual appointments on this public platform, however I would very much welcome the opportunity to speak to you directly so that I can better understand what happened, address your concerns, and ensure any learning is taken forward within the service.

If you would be willing, please use the Podiatry department telephone number and ask to speak to the service manager, and a dedicated time to have a conversation can be arranged.

Thank you again for raising these concerns. Feedback such as this is important in helping us reflect on our practice and improve upon the care we provide.

Kind Regards

Stephen

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