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Treating patient with ASD

Posted By authenticjk84

"Treating patient with ASD"

About: Musgrove Park Hospital / Accident and emergency Musgrove Park Hospital / Trauma & Orthopaedics

(as a parent/guardian),

My son broke his arm in October 2017. He has autism spectrum disorder so this was more challenging for him than for a typical child. We were treated well in A& E but all his follow up appointments. The Dr. seemed unaware of the difficulties his ASD might present. I spoke to the head of Plastering afterwards who was brilliant. He allowed us to come in a couple of weeks later so my son could be prepared for what would happen when the cast came off. At the following 2 appointments all the staff were brilliant. Very understanding of the extra processing time he needed etc.  

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Responses

Response from Charmaine Griffiths, Volunteer and Patient Involvement Lead, Patient Experience, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust 6 years ago
Charmaine Griffiths
Volunteer and Patient Involvement Lead, Patient Experience,
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 05/01/2018 at 12:14
Published on Care Opinion at 12:44

Thank you, such lovely feedback to read following the unfortunate need for you to attend the hospital with your son.

I'm so pleased to read that our staff, and in particular the Head of Plastering listened and acted on your concerns, so that they were able to tailor the necessary care and support given to your son to meet his needs so his experience was as less traumatic as could be for him, and indeed for you.

I will be sure to share your appreciation with the staff involved, and I know they will really value your feedback, thank you.

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and I hope that your son's arm is now well on the mend.

With best wishes,

Charmaine

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Update posted by authenticjk84 (a parent/guardian)

Thank you for your reply. His arm has healed and he’s doing really well now.

Best wishes

Ashley

Response from Louise Hill, Matron, Paediatric services, Taunton & Somerset NHS Foundation Trust 6 years ago
Louise Hill
Matron, Paediatric services,
Taunton & Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 09/01/2018 at 12:00
Published on Care Opinion at 12:01

picture of Louise Hill

Thank you for your feedback, I hope your son's arm is better now.

Although you say you were treated well in ED if you have time could you please contact me in the department so we can look at ways to improve the transition for others going on to clinics.

Regards

Louise

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Update posted by authenticjk84 (a parent/guardian)

Hi Louise,

I tried phoning but couldn’t get through. The main issue we had after leaving A&E was that we weren’t warned about what would happen at the following appointment. We were told that my son would have his cast changed but what actually happened was that he had a new cast moulded to his arm with the bones moved which was of course incredibly painful. While he was offered gas and air my son’s ASD meant that he was highly anxious about using it having not been shown beforehand what it was, how you use it etc so he refused any pain relief. This also meant that I had gone by myself with him thinking the procedure would be straight forward but in actual fact it took myself and 2 other staff members to hold him because he was so distressed. It would have been invaluable to know what was going to happen during this appointment, 1. to be able to prepare my son for what would happen and 2. so that my husband could have come with us to help him feel calmer and to help hold him. Ideally some form of visual resource for next steps would have been fab.

Response from Louise Hill, Matron, Paediatric services, Taunton & Somerset NHS Foundation Trust 6 years ago
We are preparing to make a change
Louise Hill
Matron, Paediatric services,
Taunton & Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 09/01/2018 at 13:11
Published on Care Opinion at 13:12

picture of Louise Hill

Thank you for this input I will look into resourcing this info for future patients.

I will liaise with the plaster room and outpatients to see what we can do. Also if ever you need to attend something like this again the paediatric ward have play specialists who are always willing to come and help if they can to make the procedure less traumatic.

I will keep you updated

Regards

Louise

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Update posted by authenticjk84 (a parent/guardian)

Hi Louise,

Thankyou for your response, I hadn't realised that about the play specialists, that's definitely useful to know.

Thankyou.

Response from Louise Hill, Matron, Paediatric services, Taunton & Somerset NHS Foundation Trust 6 years ago
We have made a change
Louise Hill
Matron, Paediatric services,
Taunton & Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 13/03/2018 at 11:44
Published on Care Opinion at 12:31

picture of Louise Hill

Dear authenticjk84

I have been looking into this and on Tuesday afternoon there is clinic for additional needs children. I have sent an email to all doctors and Emergency nurse practitioners to ensure they are aware of this.

I hope this is helpful and I'm sorry we weren't all aware of this at the time.

Reagrds

Louise

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