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No follow up

Posted By Headmaster

"No follow up"

About: Musgrove Park Hospital / General surgery

(as a parent/guardian),

My daughter had surgery on her lower back. The surgeon chose to stitch the wound apparently because my daughter is diabetic. It proved to me a poor choice because the wound wasn't healing so seven weeks later the wound had to be re-opened to allow it to be packed from the bottom and heal, in what we have now learned, is the more usual way.

The surgery took place and my daughter was discharged later that day. Since then she has heard nothing from the hospital. There has been no follow up at all. I would register a formal complaint about that but, strangely, the hospital's website encourages feedback in various places but I can find no mention of how to complain.

Perhaps more serious is that we have had not contact from the surgeon asking if their handiwork was successful. It feels like the surgeon had no interest in the well-being of a patient who I think they must have known might have experienced complications.

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Responses

Response from Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust 6 years ago
Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 16/10/2017 at 14:21
Published on Care Opinion at 14:58

Dear Headmaster

I am sorry that your daughter has had to undergo further intervention following her original surgery. If you would like to contact me directly on 01823 343289 I will take forward your concerns with the team and find out the pathway for follow up for your daughter.

Also, I am sorry that the process regarding accessing the complaints team was not apparent on our website. The complaints team can be accessed via the Trust's webpage (www.tsft.nhs.uk) on the front page through the Patient Advice and Liaison service. Alternatively you can contact them directly on 01823 343536 or by email PALS@tst.nhs.uk.

I hope your daughter is making a good recovery. Please do get in touch so that we can discuss your concerns further and make sure that she is receiving the necessary follow up.

Kind regards

Laura Walker

Governance Lead Surgery and Critical Care

Update posted by Headmaster (a parent/guardian)

I have now communicated via PALS. A lady has spoken to my daughter and apologised for the lack of aftercare. Apparently switching such a wound is fairly usual in Taunton. It is most unusual in Brecon, where we now live. Whatever the procedure, it is the lack of any follow up to review how successful the procedure has been that concerns me most. It implies a lack of concern for the patient and a lack of professional interest in learning from the outcomes of a procedure. I wonder if this is driven by a shortage of money leading to a very short-term approach.

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