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Care Opinion

Accessing GP service out of hours

Posted By Daithi

"Accessing GP service out of hours"

About: Glasgow Royal Infirmary / Accident & Emergency NHS 24 / NHS 24 (111 service)

(as a parent/guardian),

My daughter recently arrived home from work in some pain. She had in fact dislocated her Patella at work, which the first aider had put back (Thankfully). As a qualified first aider myself I was aware of how important it is for any dislocation to be attended to as quickly as possible but was definitely not qualified to make a judgment either way as to the efficacy of what had been done. I, therefore, required some advice and sought it from the 111 service. The automated response was to wait until tomorrow and make an appointment with my GP or dial 999 neither of which I felt was appropriate.

I tried calling local minor injury clinics but as it was now 1800hrs the response was no more helpful.  I had also been given the option to wait on hold with the 111 service but warned it may take some time, I decided to try it anyway. After all, all I wanted was some timeous advice. After 30 minutes I opted to take her to A&E at the GRI after an hour I hung up as she had arrived at A&E. We were processed through A&E and as ever the staff were brilliant in particular the nurse that looked after my teenage daughter so well. 

I can here the platitudes tripping of the tongue's before they're uttered, but I am sorry together with other experiences recently my perception is that the staff of the NHS are failed miserably by the system in place in Glasgow. It is in my opinion very sad that the staff dedicated to achieving so much should be let down so badly by the systems in place and worse its allowed to continue. No private company would survive the level of waste of finance and resources. So sad.

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Responses

Response from John Stuart, Chief Nurse, North Sector, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 3 years ago
John Stuart
Chief Nurse, North Sector,
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

Submitted on 27/08/2020 at 16:33
Published on Care Opinion at 16:33

Dear Daithi,

I was sorry to read of your daughter's recent patella dislocation and of your experience in trying to establish some clinical advice regarding her future management.

I was pleased however to hear of your experience of care within the Emergency Department at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. It is always heartening for our staff to receive positive feedback from our patients and I will ensure that the ED team are made aware of your comments.

Thank you for taking the time contact us via Care Opinion and I trust that your daughter is making a good recovery.

Your sincerely,

John Stuart

Chief Nurse.

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Response from Andrew Cassidy, Patient Experience Officer, Nursing & Care, NHS 24 3 years ago
Andrew Cassidy
Patient Experience Officer, Nursing & Care,
NHS 24

I manage Patient and Service User Feedback

Submitted on 28/08/2020 at 09:54
Published on Care Opinion at 11:05

picture of Andrew Cassidy

Dear Daithi,

Thank you for sharing your story on Care Opinion. I was sorry to learn your daughter dislocated her Patella and well done to the first aider who was able to assist. I hope your daughter is doing well. I am sorry to read of the issues you experienced when trying to contact NHS 24 and I appreciate that this will have been a stressful time for you and your daughter.

I am not clear when you tried to call 111, however from the detail in your story this may have been during the daytime when GP surgeries are open. Our introductory phone message does advise GP contact at this time as patient care is the responsibility of GPs. I note you heard the option on our phone menu to wait for your call to be answered and the recorded message advised this may take some time. I am sorry you had such a lengthy wait for your call to be answered, so much so that you opted to attend at A&E. If may be helpful to explain that there are times when access to the 111 service is affected by the number of callers trying to make contact with us. We work extremely hard to try to ensure that staffing levels are adequate to meet the demand placed on the service, however there are occasions when an unexpected increase in demand means that some callers may experience an extended wait time to get through. I am very sorry this was your experience at what was clearly a worrying time for you both.

I would welcome the opportunity to look into the issues you raise in more detail, and would be grateful if you would contact my team at patient.experience@nhs24.scot.nhs.uk and provide us with further information relating to your call, including the date and time of your call, the number you called from, and your daughter's details.

How kind of you to provide positive feedback for the A&E staff within the GRI. I see that John, Chief Nurse, has already thanked you for this and he will ensure that this is shared.

Thank you again for sharing your story on Care Opinion. Please pass my best wishes to your daughter for her ongoing recovery.

We look forward to hearing further from you.

Kind regards,

Andrew

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