"The cleft service is not as good as it was in Edinburgh"

Disappointed with Cleft surgical service which has been merged to Glasgow for the following reasons;

Before we even came through for the surgery, please be aware on 2 occasions we telephoned and spoke to the Glasgow cleft co-ordinator about visiting the hospital to reassure our son of where his surgery would take place - we still await a telephone call back. Not the best start. We took it upon ourselves to travel through the weekend before so we could show our son where he would be going.

We had a very stressful and upsetting experience with the anaesthetic, nobody came to give my son his numbing/freezing cream on the back of his hands and he had to have the mask to be put to sleep which caused huge unnecessary upset for my child and us as parents. 3 different staff members were advised due to previous surgeries in Edinburgh there was a preferred way for my son to be put under anaesthetic. We felt & remain feeling very angry and let down. The staff nurse on duty the following day did apologise however I feel this is just not good enough.

My child was referred to as the wrong name 3 times before correcting the surgeon which is a simple oversight however when asked about a further area of his palate which required surgery to be told "oh do you have that and oh we'd have seen that in surgery" is hardly reassuring for a parent. We would have hoped his notes would have been thoroughly reviewed in detail and the requirements of the individual case well known before going into theatre.

Due to requesting to stay for an additional night despite being told over and over again that only 20% of patients require to stay another night, we were moved to a quieter end of the ward and left to our own devices. We were more than happy to care for our son however after twice asking for a clean sheet as my son was sick all over himself in bed - I feel waiting for over 1 hour for any nursing staff to come and check on him is disgraceful.

We eventually had to ring the buzzer for assistance as he was sick a second time in the chair and we needed somewhere clean to let him lie down. We therefore asked to be discharged from the hospital asap as we felt we could care for his needs far easier and far better at home. Our discharge letter was ready and waiting with the previous days date which again clearly showed lack of appreciation for how my son was going to deal with this surgery.

We feel the nursing staff on the Ward 3B in Glasgow Childrens Hospital had very little experience in dealing with cleft surgeries - the nurse came in and offered us a straw literally a couple of hours after being back on the ward. The cleft nurses had advised us a parents he should not have any straws however they seem to work a 9-5 day and were not available in the evening after our child returned from surgery. Poor communication between staff in general and clearly lacking in any cleft expertise.

I feel this merger is hugely detrimental to the care of our cleft patients in Scotland. The team in Glasgow are very clearly trying to provide a "one box fits all patients" approach which is not the care we are accustomed to within Edinburgh Team. Thoroughly disappointed with the level of care from start to finish and we will hopefully never have to return this hospital. We historically were confident our surgeon in Edinburgh knew exactly what was needed for our child and was happy to explain in detail the procedures need and why before the operation itself. We were always secure in the knowledge our son was receiving the highest standard of care and Glasgow does not match on any level. You may have an all singing all dancing hospital through in Glasgow but I think the staff lack experience and basic communication is shocking.