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Care Opinion

NHS 24 + Out of Hours Service

Posted By Dionnex

"NHS 24 + Out of Hours Service"

About: NHS 24 / NHS 24 (111 service) Western General Hospital / GP out of hours service (LUCS)

(as a service user),

I had been struggling last Sunday I was already being treated with antibiotics but I’d began vomiting and was in pain. I called NHS 24 I was aware that the service demand was high and eventually after. 1 hour and 30 minutes I got through.

I spoke to a call handler called David (I think was his name) he was very supportive and listened to the information I was giving him. He went through all the appropriate questions and he spoke to one of the other clinicians for me who was also very kind. I was told I would wait up to 4 hours for someone to call back but after 15 minutes a doctor had phoned and discussed things with me.  

The doctor was really nice she listened and was very thorough. I do have endometriosis so have been in this difficult situation before and NHS 24 and the hospital have had to help me in the past.   The doctor did suggest some things we could try and then she asked me “what has helped you in the past when this has happened? ” and I had told her and she agreed that this was a suitable plan. She arranged for me to be seen at the Western General Hospital.

The clinician I seen (unsure if she was a doctor or a nurse) she was very good. She listened to me and did all the appropriate checks before agreeing that we could go down the intramuscular injection route and see how I got on with that. Once she had done that she gave advice about what to do if I found it didn’t work and told me to call straight back. She was very understanding which really did help especially at a time I was struggling. Thank you NHS 24 + Western General Hospital.  

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Responses

Response from Shona Lawrence, Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care, NHS 24 3 years ago
Shona Lawrence
Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care,
NHS 24

Submitted on 05/01/2021 at 11:58
Published on Care Opinion at 11:58

picture of Shona Lawrence

Hi Dionnex

Thank you for sharing your experience on Care Opinion. I am sorry to learn you have been unwell and I hope you are doing much better.

I would firstly like to apologise for the wait time to get through to NHS 24. We have been exceptionally busy over the festive period which has impacted on the time taken to answer calls. We do appreciate that waiting a long time for your call to be answered can be frustrating.

From what you have shared, it sounds as though each and every staff member you dealt with provided you with excellent person centred care. Endometriosis can be such a debilitating condition, however it sounds as though you have a good understanding of what is best for you in terms of managing this. It’s great to see the Doctor involving you in the agreed plan to manage your care. Very often patients are best placed to know what works best for them.

I am pleased you felt listened to by the staff at NHS 24 and that we made arrangements for you to have follow up care. It’s fantastic that NHS 24 and the Out of Hours services work so well together to ensure an overall positive patient experience. I am sure my colleagues within NHS Lothian Unscheduled Care Service (LUCS) and the Western General Hospital will be equally delighted with your feedback.

Thanks again for getting in touch. It was lovely to hear from you.

I wish you all the best of the New Year.

Take care

Shona

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Response from Ann Thomson, Team Leader - Patient Experience, Patient Experience Team, NHS Lothian 3 years ago
Ann Thomson
Team Leader - Patient Experience, Patient Experience Team,
NHS Lothian

Submitted on 05/01/2021 at 17:30
Published on Care Opinion at 17:30

Dear Dionnex,

Thank you very much for sharing your feedback with us via Care Opinion and I do hope you’re feeling better now as it sounds like you were having a really difficult time last Sunday. It was lovely of you to take the time to let us know how good your experiences were with the staff, both at NHS 24 and the clinician you saw at the Western General Hospital.

I have shared your story with the senior management team for NHS Lothian Unscheduled Care (LUCS) and I’m sure that the whole team will be pleased to learn they were able to help and support you when you were seen at the Western General Hospital.

With warm wishes,

Ann

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