"Disappointed "

Dear Sue

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience of your relatives care and we are sorry to hear you had cause for concern and felt that communication was lacking.

I shared your comments with the ward sister and asked if she was able to give feedback about the reasons for the delays and I have now heard back from her.

As with any ‘anonymous’ concern it can be difficult to talk in specifics but she did explain the general process and reason for delays or cancellations.

“Often patients are planned for theatre on the emergency list, but this can be cancelled if a greater surgical emergency presents within the Trust. The surgeons may still hope to carry out the original surgery but the emergency may take longer than expected.

It is not always appropriate to perform some surgeries out of hours and it is safer to wait until the next day. The ward often don't get told this until the last minute when that final decision has been made”

We thank you for raising the point about poor communication and I fully appreciate how stressful waiting can be especially when staff are not communicating information well.

We also raised the issue of the undressed wound and Sister explained that “If a dressing has been removed prior to surgery but the patient is waiting for a theatre slot, a temporary dressing would usually be out over the wound unless the team specifically asked for the wound to remain uncovered”

Without having full patient details it would not be possible to confirm the specific circumstances of your relative’s situation but we hope this provides a little more clarity.

If you would like to discuss in more detail please contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service on 01202 704886 or pals@rbch.nhs.uk, who will be able to arrange further discussion with the department.

Regards

Patient Experience Team