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Lovely staff but not great communication

Story from nhs.uk

"Lovely staff but not great communication"

About: West Cumberland Hospital

Dad was in EAU for a couple of days, ambulatory care for 4 days and Ward 2 for 12 days. EAU were good, except for one rather curt and rude doctor - second time we have had to deal with him unfortunately. Ambulatory care were very friendly and flexible, but perhaps a bit too relaxed - dad was smelly and unkempt by the time he got to Ward 2. Ward 2 staff were lovely, but I struggled to get anyone to answer the phone or find anyone to speak to when I visited, and there was very little information forthcoming - dad felt there was no continuity of communication.

After the first week at the hospital, dad needed no medical care but we had to wait for reablement to arrange carers to receive him home - this wait was intolerable for him, with nobody able to give any idea of when he would get home.

Finally this morning I was told it was all arranged and he would be discharged at 2pm, with transport maybe being a little flexible. We cancelled his afternoon visitors and got everything ready at home, only to get a call at 16:00 to advise that he wouldn't be leaving until around 18:30. It's unfair to patients and family to be so casual about something so important. We are very grateful for a national health service, but are sad that it isn't as caring as it could be.

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Responses

Response from West Cumberland Hospital 4 years ago
West Cumberland Hospital

Submitted on 17/09/2019 at 09:36
Published on nhs.uk at 10:06

Thank you for taking the time to let us know about your Dad’s recent care at West Cumberland Hospital.

Our staff work very hard to care for their patients and it is of great concern to me that it has not been a good stay for him, or you...

Please let me apologise about the ‘rude and curt’ doctor in EAU, rudeness is never acceptable even when the staff who are present are under pressure in such a busy department.

I am also very sorry that your dad appeared to be ‘unkempt’ in the middle of his stay, whilst he was on ambulatory care. I will make matron aware of your comments.

With regards to the communication on Ward 2, I completely understand how frustrating this must have felt.

Our wards do experience large call volumes from the families of all the patients on the ward and they do try their very best to answer each call but inevitably they do not always manage. Your concerns will be passed to the ward so that they are aware of how this affected all the family. I am sure they will be disappointed to hear that you are less than happy with the service provided.

Thank you again for taking the time to post your thoughts, your comments are important to us and it is by hearing about patients’ experiences that we are helped to improve our service.

I do hope that your Dad has settled well at home and is feeling much better.

Best regards,

Alison S-D

Patient Experience

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