This is Care Opinion [siteRegion]. Did you want Care Opinion [usersRegionBasedOnIP]?
Care Opinion

Letting a vulnerable person down

Story from nhs.uk

"Letting a vulnerable person down"

About: Lynfield Mount Hospital

My son was admitted onto ward 4 with deteriorating mental health issues, which meant he was a risk to himself and others around him. His address is in Bradford but his doctors address was in a Leeds postcode, 4 miles away from his address. He was then sent to Lynfield Mount, however they turned him away because of the doctors postcode. Can I say that this now has placed huge pressure on my son who came to hospital to receive help and he was turned away just because of a 4 mile postcode! Disgusting, I just hope that my son lives to see another day.

More about:
nhs.uk logo
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Lynfield Mount Hospital 3 years ago
Lynfield Mount Hospital

Submitted on 18/05/2020 at 16:17
Published on nhs.uk on 20/05/2020 at 08:52

Hello, thank you for letting us know about your experience, I understand that this would be upsetting and worrying for you, and this is not what we want for people who need our help, or for their families.

We are not sure why this has happened. If someone needs an urgent assessment, we would do that no matter where they live, or where the GP is.

If it is less urgent or if we need to arrange treatment, we may need to involve the services in the right geographical area, but this would be after assessment. If the person needed to be admitted to hospital straight away our staff would find a bed for them via the NHS organisation responsible for the area their GP is in. However, in the short term we would look at alternatives if the person was at risk.

I can’t comment or help further without more details, but I have been in touch with senior managers in the service, and they would like to talk to you so we can make sure your son has got the help he needs and put things right if anything has gone wrong.

Please call 01274 494194, if possible between 9 and 5 Monday to Friday. Please tell the switchboard operator that you have been asked to call Pete Garland or Liz Hawrylenko and they will put you through if possible.

If neither of them is available when you call, switchboard will take your name and number and pass the message on so they can call you back.

Please be aware that the call may come up on your phone as a withheld number because it goes through a switchboard.

We hope to hear from you, so we can understand what happened and support you in any way we can.

Isla Skinner, Patient Experience Lead

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k