"Using A &E with an appointment"

Dear ArolT

Thanks for sharing your story on Care Opinion. I'm sorry to learn of your fall. Such accidents can happen so easily. I hope you are making good progress and are managing well with your plaster cast.

I would firstly like to say that it is only today that NHS 24 were tagged to your story, so I am sorry you have not had a response before now. We were unaware of this. The Care Opinion Team have alerted us to the fact that your story was posted three weeks ago, therefore I hope you didn't think is was remiss of us not to respond.

It's great to see your positive comments on the service you received from everyone involved in your care. It’s totally understandable that you would be quite anxious at this time, given that you have been shielding. It's clear that all staff displayed excellent person centred skills to put you at ease which is fantastic to see.

Thanks for your kind words for the staff here at NHS 24 who managed your call. I’m so pleased you felt our staff were efficient and helpful.

I am however sorry for your wait time to get through to NHS 24. As you can imagine, our service, like all healthcare settings, has been particularly busy lately. This has unfortunately meant that, for some patients, the wait time for their call to be answered has been extended. We are working hard to ensure that when our service is busy, our telephone message provides an indicative wait time for calls to be answered. We also signpost service users to other areas where they may obtain healthcare information. However, I totally appreciate that waiting an extended time on a call to be answered, can be frustrating.

I would like to share your feedback with the staff who managed your call to 111. If you would be kind enough to contact me directly with some additional detail, I would be delighted to hear from you. You can get me at Patient.Experience@nhs24.scot.nhs.uk

The staff within Crosshouse Hospital sound like a huge credit to the NHS and I am sure they will be equally delighted with your kind comments. Great teamwork!

To say you felt ‘extremely safe and very well cared for’ is so reassuring and probably one the best compliments a patient could provide at this time.

Thanks again and best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

I look forward to hearing further from you.

Take care

Shona

Dear ArolT

Thank you so much for posting such positive feedback. I know that staff in ED will be pleased to hear you found them to be efficient and friendly.

Using an appointment system for ED is a relatively new approach so I am delighted to hear that it worked well for you.

I hope your ankle is healing well

Best Wishes

Laura