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Care Opinion

The extended waiting times for wheelchair referral

Posted By Humphry

"The extended waiting times for wheelchair referral"

About: Astley Ainslie Hospital / Rehabilitation

(as a staff member posting for a patient/service user),

The current waiting list time for any wheelchair referrals made to the SMART centre in NHS Lothian is 7 months. There was no communication from the SMART centre to let the family know this until they enquired themselves. To leave a growing child in a wheelchair which is ill fitting has physical and emotional effects on the child and family. I was made aware that the waiting list times are due to a maternity leave which hasn't been funded for back fill. I feel this is not an acceptable time to expect patients to wait and I feel it should be addressed.

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Responses

Response from Jeannette Morrison, Head of Patient Experience, NHS Lothian 4 years ago
Jeannette Morrison
Head of Patient Experience,
NHS Lothian

Submitted on 09/09/2019 at 14:15
Published on Care Opinion at 14:15

Dear Humphry,

Thank you very much for sharing your feedback with us and please accept my apologies for the delay with my reply.

I am sorry to hear of your difficulties and can only appreciate the frustrations you must have waiting for the appointment for your child's assessment from the SMART service for their wheelchair.

We would be happy to look into this for you but would need some further details regarding your child. If you would like us to do this, I would be grateful if you can please contact the Patient Experience Team who will try to assist.

Once again please can l apologies for the delays that you are experiencing and I hope that we can help.

With kind regards

Jeannette

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Response from Jeannette Morrison, Head of Patient Experience, NHS Lothian 4 years ago
Jeannette Morrison
Head of Patient Experience,
NHS Lothian

Submitted on 23/09/2019 at 13:57
Published on Care Opinion at 13:57

Dear Humphry

The team from the SMART service has given me an update on their services and have asked me to share this with you.

The Wheelchair and Seating Service (WSS) is under considerable pressure at present. The management and clinical teams are aware of the lengthy waiting lists and the potential impact on those waiting for assessment and provision and acknowledge that this is unacceptable. They are working hard to streamline the service to minimise the waiting time as much as possible within the available resources. The current waiting times in the WSS are an accumulation of a number of pressures and increasing demand and cannot be attributed to a specific workforce issue as indicated.

The clinical team work with a clinical prioritisation system to ensure that there is equitable provision and those who require the service urgently are able to access this. Whilst this system is effective for prioritisation, it creates challenges for communication of waiting times which may alter frequently as a result of changing needs of those individuals awaiting provision. We are currently working with the NHS Lothian waiting list team to develop appropriate printed communication for current and future service-users to communicate waiting times more effectively whilst managing expectations.

With best wishes

Jeannette

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