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"Communication with the medical team"

About: Derriford Hospital / General medicine

(as a carer),

My mother was in Merivale Ward after a stroke. On the whole the care seems fine and some special mentions to care assistants, nursing and AHP staff. I just want to raise one issue- communication from the medical team to me (as next of kin) as to how my mother is doing, what tests she has had, what the results of those tests are, what is the prognosis...? I find that it is almost impossible to know when or how to find the medical team - clearly they are super busy but can there not be some simple systems put in place to enable communication between visiting family and the medical team. Obviously, as my mother has  had a stroke she is not too aware of exactly what is going on. 

The nursing notes are at the end of the bed and can be read - so giving some idea. But where are the medical notes? If there is no one from the medical team to ask, how else are we supposed to find out? Could there not be a summary left at the end of the bed, or a clipboard or something on which family can write questions? For 2019, surely there could be a tablet on each bed that allowed the medical staff to record a quick video explaining the situation both for family and perhaps for other staff. Maybe it could be used by family to record a quick question? So even if it is not possible to be 'synchronous' to have a proper Q&A session - by some simple video recordings we could have a 'asynchronous' conversation to get information?

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Responses

Response from Alison Stanton, Complaints and PALS Manager, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust 5 years ago
Alison Stanton
Complaints and PALS Manager,
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
Submitted on 24/04/2019 at 14:02
Published on Care Opinion at 14:39


picture of Alison Stanton

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback of your experience on Merrivale ward. Sister Madden, Ward Manager, was pleased to read of your positive comments regarding the nursing staff however she was disappointed to hear of your concerns about communication with the medical team. The medical records are stored in lockable cupboards on the ward to ensure all staff have access to these and also for data protection reasons. The Neurology Team would like to thank you for your recommendations on ways to improve communication between the medical team and relatives and will discuss these at the team's next Clinical Governance Meeting.

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