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Care Opinion

I felt very let down

Posted By livinglifeyourway

"I felt very let down"

About: Crosshouse Hospital

(as a relative),

My dad was admitted to hospital following what was originally thought to be a viral infection. He was later diagnosed with an auto-immune disease and we were lucky the doctors caught it when they did.

At this time our family were restricted to visiting times and it was difficult for me to get 5 minutes alone with him. On the two occasions I was able to visit him when no other family members or friends were there I was not allowed to see him as another patient was receiving treatment during the visiting times within his 6 bedded room. At the time my dad was not allowed out of bed and I was unable to visit him even to say hello.

I got upset and kept being told by nursing staff that it would be 5 minutes, which turned into an hour and I had to leave for work. They did offer for me to stay longer than visiting to see him. However, I felt very let down by the structure and felt that other patients were being affected by the treatment being received by another.

I'm fully aware this was a hospital environment and everyone was entitled to receive the care, but as far as I was aware, visiting times are allocated to allow treatments to be done outwith these times. During a very difficult and frightening time for our family that 5 minutes would have meant more to me than anything in the world.

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Responses

Response from Eunice Goodwin, Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team, NHS Ayrshire and Arran 9 years ago
Eunice Goodwin
Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team,
NHS Ayrshire and Arran

I respond initially to most of the posts and ensure they are passed to the appropriate team whether they are compliments, observations or grumbles. It is important to make sure all issues are addressed and I try to encourage that to happen for all the posts as required.

Submitted on 05/02/2015 at 18:15
Published on Care Opinion at 21:00

picture of Eunice Goodwin

Dear livinglifeyourway,

I am very sorry you felt let down by us and you did not get the precious time with your Dad that you really needed. I personally believe that visitors and family support is often as much help in a patient’s recovery as some of the medication we provide.

I agree it seems harsh that you were excluded at a time that you rightly say was ‘protected’. I know some wards in Crosshouse are more relaxed about visiting and this would possibly have been more helpful to you. From what you are saying it seems that visiting times were narrow and adhered to relatively rigidly.

I wonder if there is a plan for this ward to take on the longer, less rigid visiting times. I know this will only help for the future and others (it does not help your experience) but would you like me to find out? If so, please contact me and let me know what ward your Dad was in. You can email me on eunice.goodwin@aapct.scot.nhs.uk or phone me on 01563 826222.

I am so glad your dad’s condition was identified and treated and I hope he has made a full recovery. Please let me know if there is anything further I can do.

Best wishes,

Eunice

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Response from Ann Gow, Associate Nurse Director for East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, NHS Ayrshire & Arran 9 years ago
Ann Gow
Associate Nurse Director for East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership,
NHS Ayrshire & Arran

Submitted on 06/02/2015 at 09:21
Published on Care Opinion at 10:04

picture of Ann Gow

Dear Livinglifeyour way

I'm really sorry you feel so let down and felt that we didn't enable you to have much needed time with your Dad.

We have moved to a more open visiting schedule in many wards however there are some that, for various reasons, continue to have set visiting hours. Generally even in these wards relatives can arrange to visit outside of the set times.

I am sorry we did not seem to be able to accommodate your needs and would urge you to get in touch so that we can look to see if we can learn and perhaps do things differently for future patients.

Best wishes

Ann

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Update posted by livinglifeyourway (a relative)

Thank you Eunice for your reply, it's very much appreciated. My dad has recovered and continues to be treated very well by his consultant and the team at Crosshouse and for that as a family we are very grateful. He has a great relationship with the professionals involved in his care and so far his condition has been stable (long may it continue). I just wanted to take the opportunity to highlight how I felt at this time and the reasons surrounding this, things may have already changed from our experience but It was very upsetting at the time. I will be in contact:)

Thanks again

Response from Eunice Goodwin, Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team, NHS Ayrshire and Arran 9 years ago
Eunice Goodwin
Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team,
NHS Ayrshire and Arran

I respond initially to most of the posts and ensure they are passed to the appropriate team whether they are compliments, observations or grumbles. It is important to make sure all issues are addressed and I try to encourage that to happen for all the posts as required.

Submitted on 06/02/2015 at 11:05
Published on Care Opinion at 11:46

picture of Eunice Goodwin

Hi,

Thank you for being in touch by email and for your kind words about the benefit and ease of use of PO. I will check this out and I will come back to you. I am glad your Dad is doing well and his care is now as it shold be, yes, long may it continue.

Best wishes,

Eunice

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