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No alternative option for blind patient

Posted By bjcolt51

"No alternative option for blind patient"

About: NHS Lanarkshire

(as the patient),

I am blind and have no sight at all. I recently received my letter inviting me for the covid vaccination at Motherwell Civic Centre. A friend of mine gave me the telephone number to call and book my appointment. When I called I was asked for the number on the letter which I was not able to provide as I am blind, there is no way of me reading the number to them. The person I spoke to on the phone informed me if I cant give that number they cant book my appointment. I feel like I have been left in this situation with no  help & feel ignored.

Why is there no alternative way for the staff on the phone booking system to find me without that number on my letter? Surely there must be alternative ways to find a patient e.g. my postcode? I dont have this problem in other situations when making phone calls to book appointments. This is wrong.

Can someone help me to get my Covid Vaccination?

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Responses

Response from Lesley Mallon, Risk Management Facilitator, University Hospital Hairmyres, NHS Lanarkshire 3 years ago
Lesley Mallon
Risk Management Facilitator, University Hospital Hairmyres,
NHS Lanarkshire

Submitted on 18/02/2021 at 19:54
Published on Care Opinion at 19:54

picture of Lesley Mallon

Dear bjcolt51

Thank you for sharing your experience on Care Opinion. I was very sorry to learn of the difficulties you encountered when trying to book your covid vaccination and can appreciate how upsetting this was for you. In order for me to assist you with the booking process I would be obliged if you could give me a call on 07812 492236 so that I can obtain your personal details. Alternatively you can email me at Lesley.mallon@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk to provide your personal details (name, address, postcode and date of birth). Please quote careopinion 824302 in your email.

I look forward to hearing from you and would offer my sincere apologies for the inconvenience and upset caused to you.

Kind regards

Lesley

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Response from Lesley Mallon, Risk Management Facilitator, University Hospital Hairmyres, NHS Lanarkshire 3 years ago
Lesley Mallon
Risk Management Facilitator, University Hospital Hairmyres,
NHS Lanarkshire

Submitted on 25/02/2021 at 09:54
Published on Care Opinion at 09:54

picture of Lesley Mallon

Dear bjcolt51

Many thanks for making contact with me and apologies once again for the upset caused to you. I understand that you have now received your vaccination.

Best wishes.

Lesley

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by bjcolt51 (the patient)

Thank you for posting my story regarding the problems I had with the Covid 19 Vaccination problem.

I’m delighted to say a District Nurse called and administered the Covid 19 Vaccination.

This was directly due to you allowing me to tell my story in the hope someone would listen to it and act on it. Lesley did help very much and I am pleased about her help.

However No one really answered my question or assured me that this would not happen again to myself or other blind people. I am going to make an official complaint to nhs Lanarkshire about this situation. I will of course praise the Actions of Lesley and the District Nurse who called to give me my Covid 19 vaccination.

I feel that there has to be some way of the nhs Lanarkshire to be empathetic, understanding and assist disabled people who call the Covid contact number and not reject them if they cannot provide a specific number. It is required by the Human rights act and the Disability discrimination act that information and letters sent to blind people be in an accessible format. This is the law, not just an imaginary piece of legislation. The system needs adjusting badly so that what happened to me doesn’t happen to other blind people.

I also had a wee problem with sending a message on the Care Opinion web site and I was unable to respond to Lesley and to thank her and others for their help.

I’m also delighted to say I have no side effects from the Vaccination and life is as normal as is possible as I am self isolating.

Once again my sincere and genuine thanks for all you do and have a really fantastic day.

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