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Care Opinion

Keeping in touch with family

Posted By suz58

"Keeping in touch with family"

About: New Victoria Hospital / Elderly Medicine (Ward 1 and 2) Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Glasgow / Elderly Medicine (Wards 51, 52, 54,55, 57, 8a & 2a)

(as a relative),

My father and mother married for well over 60 years became increasingly distressed by the circumstances in which they found themselves - in different hospital wards in the Queen Elizabeth and the New Victoria in Glasgow with minimal communication between them for months.  

Trying to ask for help from staff to facilitate a phone or video call was challenging not least because of the number of attempts made before the phone was answered or a response made to email request. Staff offer to help but managing never ending phone calls, requests for video calls and clinical care cannot be easy.
Is it unreasonable to expect an organisational response to the basic human need for social contact with family?
Having received a call from staff one evening to let us know how distressed my father had become in being so detached from his wife I was moved to to complain about his mental wellbeing care needs.
A response was swift and well received. My father's care plan includes a minimum  weekly call between he and my mother facilitated by staff. A zoom call took place on their 63rd wedding anniversary in January 2021 I think we all wept.
Please support our nurses and doctors to care for our families.
 
 
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Responses

Response from Nicole McInally, Patient Experience and Public Involvement Project Manager, PEPI, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 3 years ago
Nicole McInally
Patient Experience and Public Involvement Project Manager, PEPI,
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

Submitted on 18/01/2021 at 11:37
Published on Care Opinion at 13:05

picture of Nicole McInally

Dear Suz58

Having both parents in hospital must be immensely worrying for you and your family, and even more so as they are in different hospitals. After 63 years together it must be incredibly difficult for your Mother and Father to be separated. I am glad to hear that your Father’s care plan now includes a weekly call with your Mother and that they managed to have a call on their wedding anniversary – I appreciate that this would have been emotional for all of you.

We are aware of the emotional impact of not being able to keep in touch with family members can have on our patients and their loved ones. Therefore, we have introduced virtual visiting to help patients keep in touch. For patients that do not have access to their own phone or tablet, all wards now have ipads to allow video calls using FaceTime, Skype or Zoom. If you would like more information please email: virtual.visit@ggc.scot.nhs.uk or visit https://www.nhsggc.org.uk/patients-and-visitors/person-centred-visiting/person-centred-virtual-visiting/

I have shared your story with the Chief Nurse and Lead to see how we can ensure that our patients can keep in touch with their family during the pandemic.

Please pass on my best wishes to your Mother and Father.

Kind Regards

Nicole

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