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Worrying staff attitude for people with a long term conditio...

Posted By sagittariusje66

"Worrying staff attitude for people with a long term condition"

About: The Royal London Hospital / Nephrology

(as a service user),

There was an incident in the ward.  A patient was being rude to a nurse, or HCA, and they shouted back. At one point both of them were screaming and swearing at each other. Other staff present were laughing or trying to calm the patient down. No-one spoke to  the nurse. No-one tried to reassure other patients. The patient may have been rude, but she was on the dialysis machine and was not a risk to anyone.  Staff should have stepped away or de-escalated, instead of shouting back. It could have gone horribly wrong.

It was very unpleasant and scary to witness. It made me feel unsafe and added to a very chaotic atmosphere in the ward.  I feel, just because we are long term patients with no other option, staff can be nonchalant.

The nurses often advise us that we need to wait patiently for our transport, and that this is not a five star service.  Most people are very thankful for NHS.  It is rude to talk like this or be impatient with people who do not speak English. Many women have not had the opportunity to learn English; being impatient with them is not going to change it.
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Responses

Response from The Royal London Hospital 3 years ago
The Royal London Hospital

Submitted on 06/05/2022 at 10:32
Published on nhs.uk at 16:40

Dear sagittariusje66

Thank you for taking time to contact us with feedback following your recent visit to The Royal London Hospital. We were sorry to read and disappointed to learn that your experience on this occasion did not match the expectation you had of us.

We would welcome the opportunity to have this matter looked into by the service who will be able to provide you with further support and feedback.

Should you wish for this to happen, please liaise with PALS Team on site who will be able to assist you further. You will need to provide them with your contact details and a summary of the concern. You can do this via email bartshealth.familycontact@nhs.net

Kind regards

Central Complaints Team

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Update posted by sagittariusje66 (a service user)

Thank you, but I don't feel comfortable sharing my details. I am dependent on the unit for my care and not sure how this feedback will land.

It is stressful enough being in that ward, I don't want to deal with unhappy nurses.

The fact that the above incident happened (clinical staff were able to shout/swear at a patient in a busy ward full of other nurses and patients) is evidence that there may be complacency and lack of oversight and challenge.

Lack of English and transport delays are frustrating for everyone and both staff and patients need to have empathy for each other, but ultimately the staff are in a position of power, and have to adhere to a higher standard of behaviour.

Telling ill people, in a renal ward, 'this is UK and they should learn English', seems pointless and taunting.

Equally, anyone waiting for any kind of of transport, whether it is in a airport/ bus stop knows it is frustrating, it is only human to ask the same question repeatedly. I hope the staff would rise above it and find better ways of disengaging, rather than telling us not to expect a five star service.

I hope that the managers/ matrons are already aware of it and this will be used/discussed in service improvement discussions.

Response from Theresa Agyekum, Senior Complaints Officer, Barts Health NHS Trust 3 years ago
Theresa Agyekum
Senior Complaints Officer,
Barts Health NHS Trust

Submitted on 11/05/2022 at 09:46
Published on Care Opinion at 09:46

Dear sagittariusje66

Thank you for taking the time to send us your feedback. It is noted that you do not wish to take this any further but you have raised very important points and we will ensure that this is escalated to the service manager, to share with relevant staff.

We value the feedback from our patients as this helps us improve our services where appropriate; once again thank you for your comments.

Kind regards

Central Complaints Team

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