"Disorganised chaos"

Dear Mr Craig

We are really sorry to hear the difficulties and the unfortunate experience you had during your blood test in Christchurch Hospital.

As you will be aware Christchurch hospital is undergoing extensive redevelopment work which has had an impact on all departments but I have requested feedback from the Phlebotomy Manager regarding your concerns and included her response below. She also asked that I relay her apology for the negative experience you have had.

“The current Phlebotomy service does not have appointments and this was in response to several surveys of patients’ requirements who by a slight majority did not wish to have fixed appointments but preferred a walk in service.

The advantage of a walk in service is that patients can have their phlebotomy whenever they choose.

Unfortunately there is no control over the demand with the result that it is impossible to predict busy or quiet periods.

We fully appreciate the seating arrangements are not enough for Christchurch phlebotomy department however this is temporary accommodation until the Hospital building project is completed.

Unfortunately the length of waiting time and the queues are variable every day and dependable of individual patients needs however it is estimated each Phlebotomist sees a patient every seven minutes

Our aim is to offer a unique patient experience whilst you are in our Hospitals and we are continuously aiming to ensure a safe and smooth patient journey. Your comments are valuable to us and we are taking every patient’s opinion very seriously in order to improve our service when improvement needs to be made”.

Please if you have any further concerns on future visits the Phlebotomy Manager will be happy to discuss them with you. She can be contacted either directly through the department or via Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALs) on 01202 704886.

Regards

Patient Experience Team