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Medway Hospital treatment and after care.

Posted By Diadem

"Medway Hospital treatment and after care."

About: Medway Community Healthcare / Community respiratory team Medway Maritime Hospital / Accident and emergency Medway Maritime Hospital / Respiratory medicine

(as a service user),

I was sent in for a chest X-Ray, only to find that the situation with my lungs was so bad they held me for immediate admission.   This unplanned stay was not handled as well as I could have hoped for; at two points of that day I had 5 hour plus waiting periods, but on reflection I am not unhappy.   I stayed for 6 nights and during that time my experience became more positive.  The ward staff and nurses, the doctors and consultants were superb.   And as a side issue, the food was much better than I ever imagined it would be.

So, all in all, quite positive - until the need for after care.

And here is the weak point in my experience.  The system rules and woe betide me when my need for help crossed the needs of the system.   Even finding a route to talk to anyone is a trial.   Many of the phone numbers were unavailable and in the case of the district nurses ring unanswered until they auto-cut the call.   And off I went again.

And as for help; while the nurses themselves always come over as both kind and professional, they didn't try and get an appointment to suit me.

No-one seems to appreciate that if, as an 81 year old, I suddenly discover I may have but a few weeks to live, my first thoughts will be to sorting out my affairs and helping my wife plan for her solitary future.   I do not want to spend days sitting at home waiting for a nurse to come and drain my lung.   It is a ten minute job.

And it appears all this stems from one person who recently left (most excellent lady, I must say) but it seems to have thrown their system into chaos.   And while I waited (an hour late) everyone looked at me blankly, as if it was the done thing.   And it appears that my appointment (and one other) was over-looked.  But it's not just the clinic, there seems to be a general lack of cohesion and individual care about the service in general and all is covered by a well rehearsed set of excuses.

I could say much more but I am fast reaching a point where my expectations are dwindling to a level that my post here would become a little more than an uncontrolled rant. 

 

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Responses

Response from Patient Experience Manager, Medway NHS Foundation Trust 5 years ago
Medway NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 25/05/2018 at 11:17
Published on Care Opinion at 11:42

Thank you for your comments. We will share your comments with the respiratory team who cared for you during your stay.

We are very sorry that you felt let down by the aftercare available in the community. Medway NHS Foundation Trust and our community partners are continually seeking to work in a more cohesive way for the benefit of patients and we thank you for your feedback.

Our sincerest good wishes.

Kindest regards,

The Patient Experience Team

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

Update posted by Diadem (a service user)

I would be ashamed to write such a reply. These are just words; the kind of words that cover the broadest spectrum of problems with the minimum of promised action. It is not the patient's fault if the hospital after care service is lacking ... but it still requires attention.

There needs to be positive action to ensure that the patient's medical needs allows the patient reasonable access to personal requirements like taking care of family needs in preparation for such time when they are no longer able to.

When a patient has an unknown limited life span ahead, he / she is going to be very worried about those they leave behind. To waste whole days waiting for local nurses to come and carry out a basic procedure is just unreasonable. One day is next to nothing when you are healthy but in my condition at 81, it could be as little as 2% of the rest of my life, Can nobody see this?

When I was approached to accept a change in an appointment from the clinic to a home visit I did not hesitate. Of course I said and added "like roughly the same time"

Oh no, came the reply. Well, say morning or afternoon I asked. Oh no, came the reply, we don't work like that, plus a few well practiced reasons why not. I could have cried in frustration at the attitude.

As I suggested at the start, the people in the front line are wonderful, the administration and after care is appalling.

Update posted by Diadem (a service user)

Whether the recent improvements I have found have anything to do with my initial disquiet, I don’t know, but three / four weeks have now passed. The staff, as ever, have been fine but the arrangements and timing for treatment have become just as convenient as I could have wished for.

While it is all too easy to fire missiles when things go wrong (often sharpened with the anxiety that accompanies serious illness) I think it is only fair to record when things have improved … and they have. Markedly.

I hope management will now look closer at what may currently be a secondary matter. Bewildered by the surroundings and with no control over your personal and family needs is a distressing situation to be in when you are seriously ill as well.

Thank you for reading.

Diadem.

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