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Care Opinion

Patient review with consultant, nurse contribution

Posted By Feedbacker

"Patient review with consultant, nurse contribution"

About: Highbury Hospital Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust / Adult mental health (inpatient)

(as a service user),

While on an adult acute psychiatric ward I had a review with my consultant psychiatrist once a week (in theory).  Before I went into the room where the review was taking place, a nurse who happened to be on duty would go in before me, armed with the notes that nurses and health care assistants had written about me the previous week.  The nurse who went in with the notes might be a nurse I happened not to have exchanged two words with the previous week.  I didn't like third-hand information being given not only to my consultant, but also to others in the consultant's team present at the review, before I joined the meeting.  There were many good things about the review, for example,  I was always introduced to everyone in the room.  But I would have liked to have been in at the beginning.  I would have preferred it if the nurse with my nursing notes, and I, had gone into the room at the same time so that I could hear what she had to say, and both she and I had the same opportunity to say what we had to say about me.  I felt sidelined/dis-empowered  watching the nurse go in before me with my notes.

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Responses

Response from Charlotte Gater, Modern Matron, Adult Mental Health, Highbury Hospital, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 3 years ago
Charlotte Gater
Modern Matron, Adult Mental Health, Highbury Hospital,
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 16/04/2021 at 13:05
Published on Care Opinion at 16:00

Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback. We value all feedback and it is nice to hear some positive comments about your stay on the ward.

I apologise for the way the process made you feel. We are always looking for ways to make improvements to the ward review experience, particularly from a patient involvement perspective.

If you would like to get in touch, it would be useful to have some further information and I am more than happy to listen to your views on how we can make improvements going forward.

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

Update posted by Feedbacker (a service user)

I'm afraid I said the response wasn't helpful. This was because I felt it was a 'generic' response, I.e. it seemed to me that the same response was being given to a wide range of very different 'stories'. This was not a response to my particular, unique 'story'. However, I feel I'm being harsh because the invitation is there for me to talk further about what I said. I won't take this invitation up as I have already stated clearly what I had to say. The ball is now in others' court. Incidentally, the pointless phrase 'going forward' seems to be contagious. You're hardly going to be making improvements going backwards.

I might take you up on your invitation to me to expand on my views some time in the future when I've stopped feeling cross. And finally, I must say that I'm delighted to have had a response at all, it shows someone has read what I had to say and has taken the trouble to get back to me.

As you can tell, my response is mixed. But there wasn't a tick box for that.

Response from Charlotte Gater, Modern Matron, Adult Mental Health, Highbury Hospital, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 3 years ago
Charlotte Gater
Modern Matron, Adult Mental Health, Highbury Hospital,
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 19/04/2021 at 09:54
Published on Care Opinion at 10:15

I can be contacted through Nottinghamshire Healthcare switch board on 0115 9691300

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Response from Jane Danforth, Involvement & Experience Officer, Involvement, Experience and Volunteering Team, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 2 years ago
Jane Danforth
Involvement & Experience Officer, Involvement, Experience and Volunteering Team,
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

Hello, my name is Jane Danforth. My role involves helping our service users, volunteers and staff to understand that Notts Healthcare wants to hear stories about our services. We reply to every story and it really helps us to improve what we do, how we do it and to hear about what works well too.

Submitted on 06/07/2021 at 10:40
Published on Care Opinion at 10:40

picture of Jane Danforth

Dear Feedbacker

Did you think about anything else we could do to improve the review process? You mentioned 'the nurse who went in with the notes might be a nurse I happened not to have exchanged two words with the previous week' It would seem sensible to look at this point and see if there was something that could be discussed prior to the review to make sure that this is avoided where possible.

We always reply to any feedback on Care Opinion. Sometimes we don't get it right and your observations have both positive and negative comments. This is particularly helpful as the team can continue doing what they do well but it also makes us think about how reviews feel to the patient. I know that the ward would still value any suggestions from you to make you or others feel more involved in reviews.

Thank you for leaving such thoughtful feedback

Jane

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

Update posted by Feedbacker (a service user)

Thanks for your response.

On reflection, I'm not sure that the most important thing is whether or not the nurse who goes to the review is someone you've talked to in the intervening period between reviews. The important thing to me while in hospital was that the nurse went into the review before me. I don't object in principle to doctors, nurses,HCAs OTs, etc discussing me 'behind my back'. That's inevitable and as it should be. But in the actual review, I assume that what happens is that, going on what the nurse has observed him/herself (if anything) and what other nurses and HCAs have written, the nurse conveys how I've been in general and draws attention to any noteworthy changes in my mood or behaviour or whatever. I think it would have been useful for me to hear this, to hear the picture that nurses and HCAs had formed, and also to give me the opportunity to say where my own view departed from theirs. I have no idea if my assumption about what sorts of things nurses say to consultants and their teams in reviews are right. I also have no idea of the rationale for the nurse going in before the patient. I can also accept that for some patients, going in at the same time as the nurse might just end in a slanging match (?). Also, for me personally, I don't think I took in anything much in the earlier stages of my illness. I have no memory of my earlier reviews.

At the reviews that I remember, it didn't help that on the particular ward I was on, while I was waiting for my review (always late) I watched the nurse go in and then saw the nurse through a huge pane of glass talking away to everyone but me. The others in the room had arrived much earlier for other patients' reviews.

I think yours is a really good alternative idea. If whichever of the nurses who was going to do my review had had a chat with me before we both went in separately I'm sure that would have been really helpful. Nurses never have enough time ... ...

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