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Problems on the stroke unit

Posted By asteropesz73

"Problems on the stroke unit"

About: Ayrshire Central Hospital / Douglas Grant Rehabilitation Centre

(as a relative),

I recently visited a relative in the "new" stroke rehabilitation unit at Ayrshire Central Hospital. My father was a stroke patient in there many years ago... and to my horror I felt nothing had changed; physio is sporadic, speech therapy likewise, and, food is being "dumped" in front of patients in dishes that I think are unsuitable for them to access with their physical disability. To add insult to injury I was told by another that the pyjama top my relative was wearing in the afternoon, was the same top they had been wearing the day before.

The less physio, speech and occupational therapy stroke victims receive the longer they are going to be in need of care and occupying expensive beds. Only having physio three times a week is a joke in my opinion. I understand beds cost a minimum of £233 per night. Surely the savings made through more intensive rehabilitation regimes would pay for the additional specialist staff needed? But, I made these same points decades ago!

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Responses

Response from Eunice Goodwin, Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team, NHS Ayrshire and Arran 6 years ago
Eunice Goodwin
Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team,
NHS Ayrshire and Arran

I respond initially to most of the posts and ensure they are passed to the appropriate team whether they are compliments, observations or grumbles. It is important to make sure all issues are addressed and I try to encourage that to happen for all the posts as required.

Submitted on 26/04/2018 at 14:59
Published on Care Opinion at 16:28

picture of Eunice Goodwin

Dear asteropesz73,

I have been asked to post this response on behalf of Iain Larkin, Senior Manager -

"I am sorry you have concerns over the treatment of your relative. Although it is difficult to identify the specific factors which led to your concerns about access to rehabilitation staff there are some general points which we hope will help give some clarity. If you would like more a more detailed discussion this can be arranged.

By way of explanation, recently there has been a staffing shortfall within our Stroke rehabilitation team. On a daily basis therapy staff on every ward are required to prioritise their caseload to make the most of our limited resource whilst being fair to all. Decisions on prioritisation are based on several complex factors but essentially this is about balancing the demand for therapy with what can actually be achieved. Therapy staff would like to see patients more frequently but the reality is that this is not always possible. Sometimes it is necessary to take difficult decisions about who should receive treatment on any given day. We are sorry that you feel the frequency of therapy is not acceptable and your concerns have been noted. It may please you to know that there has been a new physiotherapy assistant post created and we are currently recruiting fill this vacancy. Also another physiotherapist has just started work within the stroke unit. We hope this will lead to greater access to physiotherapy over the coming weeks.

Efforts are being made at a management and service planning level to increase patients’ access to high quality patient centred care after stroke (this includes looking at workforce, staff education and models of care). We entirely agree with your observation about the value of rehabilitation staff to patients the organisation and society as whole. Thank you for your valuable comments.”

Iain

Iain Larkin

Physiotherapy Team Lead

Physiotherapy Department

Douglas Grant Rehabilitation Centre,

Ayrshire Central Hospital

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Response from Eunice Goodwin, Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team, NHS Ayrshire and Arran 6 years ago
Eunice Goodwin
Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team,
NHS Ayrshire and Arran

I respond initially to most of the posts and ensure they are passed to the appropriate team whether they are compliments, observations or grumbles. It is important to make sure all issues are addressed and I try to encourage that to happen for all the posts as required.

Submitted on 26/04/2018 at 16:34
Published on Care Opinion on 27/04/2018 at 09:57

picture of Eunice Goodwin

Dear asteropesz73,

In addition to Iain's response, if you would like to speak with one of our Senior Managers, we would be happy to discuss this further as required, please call 01294 323230.

Best Wishes,

Eunice

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