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Endoscopy appointment

Posted By PatriciaW

"Endoscopy appointment"

About: New Victoria Hospital / Cardiac rehabilitation New Victoria Hospital / Endoscopy

(as a relative),

My 77 year old mother had an appointment for an endoscopy in mid-December. After struggling to get to the hospital, as she suffers from COPD, she was asked to get prepared for the endoscopy ie, undressing (which takes up all of her energy) and putting on a gown. Just as she was about to get the anaesthetic her doctor came in and said he had enough information on her and that the endoscopy was not required (this appointment could have been used for someone else). This is fair enough, and I am sure the doctor had his reasons, but the fact that I had to take time off work to accompany her, only to be told she didn't need to be there was very annoying as I may need this time in the future. Can I also mention the positioning of the COPD Clinic. Whoever decided to place the clinic at the end of a very long corridor, clearly didn't think this through. On one occasion, when I had to accompany my mother (just as well I did), after arriving at the clinic, she was asked to go for an X-ray at the back end of the hospital and then return to the COPD Clinic would have been extremely exhausting if I had not taken the wheelchair with me.

The reason I am writing this, is out of concern for my mother and other patients who suffer from the same illness. It seems to me that there is no thought put into these appointments in order to make things easier for the patient.

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Responses

Response from Lorna Fairlie, Patient Experience, Public Involvement Project Manager, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 9 years ago
Lorna Fairlie
Patient Experience, Public Involvement Project Manager,
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

I work in a small team in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde which seeks to involve patients and carers in the work of the NHS. The biggest part of my role is in managing feedback projects across the Board area, one of which is Patient Opinion. It is my job to give our patients and carers the opportunity to give us feedback, and to make sure that this is passed to the right people to help us improve the services we provide.

Submitted on 13/02/2015 at 15:45
Published on Care Opinion at 15:49

Dear Patricia,

Thank you for taking the time to highlight the issues you encountered when accompanying your mother for her endoscopy appointment.

I can completely understand your frustration when you were advised that the appointment was no longer necessary, as well as the strain that this potentially puts on your mother and I am sorry that you both had an unnecessary trip.

You also raise a valid point about the location of the COPD clinic and the movement about the hospital when going to different departments. Sometimes multiple investigations or treatments are carried out on the same day, where possible, in order to reduce the number of visits that a patient has to make to the hospital. While this can mean some movement between departments, staff will make sure there is support for any patient who would have difficulty with this.

I have passed your comments on to Susan McFadyen who is the General Manager for this service and who I'm sure will be able to add some more information to address the points you have raised.

Best Wishes,

Lorna

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Response from Lorna Fairlie, Patient Experience, Public Involvement Project Manager, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 9 years ago
Lorna Fairlie
Patient Experience, Public Involvement Project Manager,
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

I work in a small team in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde which seeks to involve patients and carers in the work of the NHS. The biggest part of my role is in managing feedback projects across the Board area, one of which is Patient Opinion. It is my job to give our patients and carers the opportunity to give us feedback, and to make sure that this is passed to the right people to help us improve the services we provide.

Submitted on 06/03/2015 at 15:43
Published on Care Opinion at 15:46

Dear Patricia,

Thank you for getting in touch. I just wanted to add to the comments above by giving you a bit of information as to how this can on occasion happen. Your mother's GP would have referred her for the procedure and based on that referral, an endoscope appointment was arranged. Unfortunately, in this case the endoscopist decided the procedure was not in fact required. I apologise for the inconvenience this has caused and can understand the frustration you feel.

I would be happy to look into this further and give you a more personal response if you would like to get in touch with further details. If you wish me to do this, please get in contact directly with Lorna Gray on lorna.gray@ggc.scot.nhs.uk who will pass on any details.

Yours Sincerely,

Margaret Anderson,

Lead Nurse, Endoscopy

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