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My mums story

Posted By Ephesus

"My mums story"

About: Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Glasgow / Accident & Emergency Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Glasgow / General medicine (Wards 5d) Scottish Ambulance Service / Emergency Ambulance

(as a relative),

Blue light ambulance? Sepsis. Ambulance crew, fantastic a credit to the NHS. Arrived at assessment unit. 2 hrs until I knew what was happening.

Was allowed in to see my mum. Could not believe my eyes. Ambulance crews lined the corridor with patients waiting on assessment unable to leave until px handed over to NHS staff.

Staff seemed pushed to the limit trying to do their best but unable to assist my mum when she needed the toilet. My daughter and I helped her although her mobility was poor (what happens to the person who has no one) Nurse took specimen and wrote on post it note due to staff change of shift.

By this time 9 hrs later my mum being transferred to receiving ward and if it had not been for my daughter asking for result to be put in notes it would have went missing.

Im not criticising the staff my heart goes out to them they are doing the best with limited resources. One nurse whos care goes beyond what was expected told me they could not wait to get out of the NHS. 

Porters came to assist mum to receiving ward. Absolutely amazing guys, made my mum laugh and feel at ease as did my daughter and I after a very emotional and worrying afternoon. Nurse on receiving ward kind and compassionate.

Mum moved to Ward 9c next day. Not impressed. No one seemed to know what was happening, staff always too busy and on computers or filling in paperwork.

Asked for Social Work Assessment as advised by local social work dept and told this was not their responsibility. Asked if I could speak to Dr. Told best time come to hospital 8am.

Went to visit mum she had pulled her iv out. I was visiting for about 1 hr and iv still not connected. Telephoned later that evening to ask if iv connected. Again I am not complaining about the staff as they are pushed to the limit and must feel undervalued and overworked, how do you cope with limited resources.

My daughter went to visit in the evening and her gran wasn't in her room. The staff at the desk were more concerned about forgetting their IT password and my daughter had to interrupt and ask where her gran was as she was worried she had wandered off due to her confused state. No body knew. Eventually someone said she was away for a scan. I worked in the NHS for many years as did my mum and I am shocked to see what has become of our NHS.

 I visited my mum and she told me her diagnosis. I felt upset and went to find the nurse who was looking after my mum. The nurses name is Linda (wish id found out your surname) thank you so much. You explained things to me, made me feel calm and contacted the Dr to come and speak to myself and my mum. I've forgotten the doctors name? I think it was Gavin and I would like to thank you both for your care and consideration and taking the time to explain things.

I feel more reassured and content than I have felt in over a week. My family and I all love my mum, she has always looked after all of us and should have the dignity and respect she deserves.

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Responses

Response from Nicole McInally, Patient Experience and Public Involvement Project Manager, PEPI, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 7 years ago
Nicole McInally
Patient Experience and Public Involvement Project Manager, PEPI,
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

Submitted on 10/01/2017 at 15:44
Published on Care Opinion at 20:54

picture of Nicole McInally

Dear Ephesus

Thank you for taking the time to post on Patient Opinion.

I am sorry to hear about your mum’s experiences whilst in hospital and understand that this is a distressing time for your mum and all the family. We aim to provide a high standard of care to all our patients and their families and this has clearly not happened with your mum and I am sorry for this.

Thank you for your positive comments regarding the staff. I am pleased to hear that Linda (the nurse) and Gavin (the doctor) provided you with an explanation and reassurance.

Please be assured that I will share your comments with the General Manager and ask that they respond to the issues that you have raised in your post. To be able to provide you with more detailed feedback about what you have described, could you please email me at Nicole.McInally@ggc.scot.nhs.uk with some personal details.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes

Nicole

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Response from Martin Esposito, Consultant Paramedic - Major Trauma, Clinical Directorate, Scottish Ambulance Service 7 years ago
Martin Esposito
Consultant Paramedic - Major Trauma, Clinical Directorate,
Scottish Ambulance Service

Submitted on 11/01/2017 at 07:51
Published on Care Opinion at 09:14

picture of Martin Esposito

Dear Ephesus

Thank you so much for sharing your experience on Patient Opinion. Your story offers an insightful and valuable view of the care experience from a family member’s perspective.

I was pleased to read your comments about the ambulance staff who treated your mum. I would also like you to know that we are working closely with all of our health board colleagues to reduce the time that ambulance staff have to wait with patients who are taken to hospital. In some areas we have based managers within the hospital to assist with the transfer of patients and this has proved extremely successful. As part of our current strategy Towards 2020: Taking Care to the Patient, we are aiming to enhance the skills of our clinical staff so that we can treat more of our patients in a more homely setting, avoiding hospital, where safe and appropriate. This, again, involves working closely with our other NHS colleagues to develop care pathways and partnerships so that we can offer the best possible care to our patients.

I am glad that Nicole has responded to you and will be sharing your feedback with the relevant staff. I would encourage you to contact her as suggested, as feedback such as yours is so important for the development of healthcare services.

I do hope that your mum gets well soon and thanks again for sharing.

Take care

Martin.

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Response from Nicole McInally, Patient Experience and Public Involvement Project Manager, PEPI, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 7 years ago
Nicole McInally
Patient Experience and Public Involvement Project Manager, PEPI,
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

Submitted on 23/01/2017 at 08:15
Published on Care Opinion at 10:40

picture of Nicole McInally

Dear Ephesus

Firstly, I am so sorry to hear that you and your mother’s time in Ward 9C has not been a good experience.

I have addressed your comments with the staff on the ward, and assure you that your issues have been discussed.

The feedback from you has been beneficial, and has allowed us to reflect on our communications and interactions with patients and their relatives. It is clear that we may not always get this right.

It was never our intention to have you ignored at the desk, while nursing staff were clearly more focused on the computers and the task in hand. Nursing staff are required to spend time on computers, checking results and requesting input from other support services. I appreciate that this may not be how nursing duties are perceived. Also, there are many nursing charts that need to be filled in and up-dated, this ensures that a patient’s care is planned and implemented.

I am unable to comment on the issue regarding the IV, there are many possible scenarios as to why this did not happen.

Nursing staff are certainly able to make referrals to Social Work Department, and I have addressed this with the nursing staff.

With regard to the nursing staff not knowing where your mum was, the ward uses a Team approach to nursing and it would appear that on initial approach to the staff, it may not have been the team of nurses that were caring for your mum. I am happy to hear that you were directed to the correct nurse who was able to confirm that your mother was attending for scan.

I hope that your mother is recovering well, and again apologise that your experience of 9C was not a good one.

Kind Regards

Susan Groom

General Manager, Surgery South Sector

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