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Care Opinion

She listened to me and actually understood

Posted By Dionnex

"She listened to me and actually understood"

About: NHS 24 / NHS 24 (111 service) Western General Hospital (Edinburgh)

(as a service user),

I had to attend Out of Hours yesterday due to an infection and also going through a flare up of endometriosis. My experience of contacting NHS24 was positive, they answered my call within ten minutes, the call handler was lovely and took a full history, list of symptoms I was worried about and was aware of endometriosis! I've found some healthcare professionals don't know much about the condition. She arranged for me to be seen at my local hospital.

I attended Out of Hours at the Western General Hospital. I saw the Nurse Practitioner there, I think her name was Judy. She was absolutely brilliant very thorough a lot has been happening these last few months with surgery and the illness causing problems so she listened to me talk through all of that and took into account previous symptoms with the same infection and prescribed a course of another antibiotic as the first one prescribed by my GP hadn't treated the infection. She was really knowledgable about endometriosis which helped a lot.

She was very sensitive when approaching questions to do with any chance I could be pregnant as she's aware that some women have issues with fertility due to this illness. She gave advice on how to look after myself at home as well. I just hope that this gets passed onto her and she's told just how much of a difference she made giving me the time to explain and for being understanding it means a lot even if it might seem such a small thing.

Sometimes it's hard as endometriosis sufferers often get dismissed but to have someone acknowledge just how hard it can be day to day and how much of an impact endometriosis can have is validating. Hopefully there's more nurses like her out there and if I ever need help again I can have a positive experience like this one. 

Endometriosis needs more awareness and this is something I intend to carry forward hopefully with the help and support of the NHS and the Scottish Government.

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Responses

Response from Shona Lawrence, Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care, NHS 24 6 years ago
Shona Lawrence
Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care,
NHS 24

Submitted on 15/11/2017 at 09:49
Published on Care Opinion at 14:08

picture of Shona Lawrence

Dear Dionnex

Thank you for sharing your experience on Care Opinion. I was sorry to learn of your diagnosis of endometriosis and I understand that it can be a debilitating condition. I do wish you well.

It is good of you to specifically thank Judy, the Nurse Practitioner at the Western General Hospital. She sounds like a credit to the NHS and her sensitive manner, excellent listening skills and knowledge of endometriosis clearly put you at ease. I am sure my colleagues with NHS Lothian will be delighted with such positive feedback for their staff member.

It was also very good of you to mention our staff member here at NHS 24 and I am pleased you described your experience of NHS 24 as positive. Our staff always try hard to put callers at ease as we appreciate that people who need to contact 111 are normally worried our upset about their health or that of loved one. I would like to be able to pass you thanks directly to the Call Handler who managed your call as we do always try to share positive feedback directly with staff. Should you wish to contact me to provide any additional detail, I would be delighted to hear from you. You can get me on 0141 337 4582 or by email at patientaffaris@nhs24.scot.nhs.uk

Thanks again for sharing your experience by posting such a heartfelt story.

Take care

Shona

Shona Lawrence

NHS 24 Patient Affairs Manager

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Response from NHS Lothian 6 years ago
NHS Lothian

Submitted on 16/11/2017 at 12:15
Published on Care Opinion at 12:22

Dear Dionnex,

Thank you for taking the time to write about your recent experiences with NHS24 and Out Of Hours at the Western General Hospital.

I was sorry to hear about what brought you to Out of Hours, but I truly hope you are on the mend regarding the infection and getting the support you need for Endometriosis.

It was sincerely heart warming to read of your encounter with Judy. I can assure you that I have passed this on to Judy's Manager to share with her at the earliest opportunity.

I would like to leave our contact details here in case you should need to contact us in future:

Email: feedback@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk

Telephone: 0131 536 3370 weekdays 9am-4pm

Best wishes and thank you again,

Jenny

Patient Experience Team for NHS Lothian

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