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Care Opinion

Delay after delay

Posted By eaglecx58

"Delay after delay"

About: Crosshouse Hospital Crosshouse Hospital / Trauma & orthopaedics

(as the patient),

I have been waiting for two knee replacement operations for 14 months and wonder how much longer I will need to wait.

On three occasions I was contacted, by phone, by the hospital ask me to attend for pre-op assessments as they would operate in the next 5 days. That's all the notice I was given, why is it not possible to give me a date in writing?

The first time the operation was delayed was following an abnormality in the ECG during pre-op checks. I was told they would not be able to operate until this had been investigated, which was fair enough. I was also reassured that I would not be 'put to the back of this list'. 

However, it was months before I was contacted again. this time it was cancelled as I had been on a recent long haul flight.

More recently, in April, after having gone through the pre-op checks I was called on the day of the operation to say it had been cancelled so I'm back to square one. I feel as though I've had to put my life on hold just waiting for the operations, this is making it more difficult day by day.

I have tried to e-mail the doctor's secretary on the e-mail address at the top of the letters I have received but it appears to be an incorrect e-mail address.

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Responses

Response from Eunice Goodwin, Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team, NHS Ayrshire and Arran 5 years ago
Eunice Goodwin
Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team,
NHS Ayrshire and Arran

I respond initially to most of the posts and ensure they are passed to the appropriate team whether they are compliments, observations or grumbles. It is important to make sure all issues are addressed and I try to encourage that to happen for all the posts as required.

Submitted on 31/05/2018 at 12:25
Published on Care Opinion at 12:59

picture of Eunice Goodwin

Dear eaglecx58,

I am so sorry, this must be having such an impact on all aspects of your life, including your mental health and well-being. It is difficult to ride this rollercoaster of expectations. I think there are a couple of things we can do here to help.

Firstly, I would like to explain about the email address. Yes, you are correct, the email address is likely to have been wrong. NHS Ayrshire and Arran are in the process of making email addresses all the same format. The letters etc. are in the process of being updated to reflect that. I am sorry this had not been the case for you. I think there is some work to be done at our end about email communications. Some teams use email but others don't. The Orthopaedic secretaries were advised not to use this method to converse with patients. Therefore, it would seem questionable why the email address is on the letter at all, let alone being wrong.

We would like to look into your situation and also to reassure you that you are firmly on or radar. We can look into your case and find out what is happening. There are many reasons why this may have come about but that may not help you, knowing the way forward will. I would like to invite you to contact the Orthopaedic Secretary on 01563 827881. With your details, I am sure we can help. I wish you well for your operation and I hope it will be very soon.

In the meantime, I will raise the email address issue and your delay issue with senior management. Thank you so much for sharing your story and concerns.

kind regards,

Eunice

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Update posted by eaglecx58 (the patient)

I appreciate your extremely accurate and early response and I am happy to say that an official letter of commitment for surgery was received by me. Many thanks.

Response from Eunice Goodwin, Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team, NHS Ayrshire and Arran 5 years ago
Eunice Goodwin
Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team,
NHS Ayrshire and Arran

I respond initially to most of the posts and ensure they are passed to the appropriate team whether they are compliments, observations or grumbles. It is important to make sure all issues are addressed and I try to encourage that to happen for all the posts as required.

Submitted on 31/05/2018 at 16:17
Published on Care Opinion on 01/06/2018 at 15:43

picture of Eunice Goodwin

Dear eaglecx58,

That is great news, I am delighted. I am sorry it has been such a long journey for you. Should you need to contact the Orthopaedic secretaries for anything else, try the number above and they will help, even if it is to re-route you to the appropriate secretary.

Best wishes,

Eunice

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
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