This is Care Opinion [siteRegion]. Did you want Care Opinion [usersRegionBasedOnIP]?
Care Opinion

poor internal communication and patient

Story from nhs.uk

"poor internal communication and patient"

About: Eastbourne District General Hospital / Gynaecology

the appointment was with regards to my daughter who is only 14.

at this age, going to gynecology is awkward and uncomfortable. on top of that, she has been bleeding nonstop from end of Jan. we were there because of a followup appointment after losing too much blood then having a blood transfusion in July.

when she had the blood transfusion, the gynecologist never turned up, and we were waiting to be released until the evening.

everyone in gynecology thought my daughter had been seen. don't know how that happens. because of her age, she was in pediatrics, they needed beds for that night and we were still there for no reason.

matron in charge was brilliant and she told me that our case was raised because of the way it was handled.

so then you would hope that better internal communication would come out of this.

received release paper in the post and it said get iron tablets from GP with gynecology followup in 4-6weeks.

says that so you would expect a letter through saying when her appointment was. didn't get anything so i called up and asked about her appointment and they didn't have that instruction in the system so she wasn't even in the cue to get an appointment. cannot comprehend.

lady i spoke over the phone said next available is end of Nov.

I said that isnt good enough, she needs to be seen sooner.

she said she will leave note for the consultant's secretary and hopefully she will sort something out.

we then received a letter to see doctor in Sept.

so we go to DGH for the appointment.

we waited, over an hour, without explanation.

i had to ask what was going on and they said they were delayed but had my daughter on the list and not to worry.

pretty upset that they couldn't come to tell us that they were delayed.

10-15 mins is one thing but over an hour is pretty insulting.

we finally get into the doctor's room and she makes it worse.

she asks if she is bleeding still and if so how much.

she tells her to show her pad.

now. this was shocking. here is this teenager who isn't even replying in a loud voice to the doctor (clearly she is nervous) and yet she tells her to rip off the pad from her underwear to show her how much she is bleeding. this may go down ok with some women but not a teenager.

i was dumbfounded. the doctor then questions what happened from the very beginning of her menstrual cycle. she doesnt want to reply so i am giving the details on behalf of her but i'm thinking why am i repeating the story? we had this conversation when she got her blood transfusion. its all in the file. she can read the file. doesnt need to take duplicate notes. so i question why she was asking the questions. she snaps saying she is doing her job and we just need to answer her question.

that she wants to go home and the longer we are discussing about something other than my daughter's symptoms, the longer we will be here. do they only think about themselves? my daughter had to miss school. they need to learn to communicate better.

More about:
nhs.uk logo
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Eastbourne District General Hospital 4 years ago
Eastbourne District General Hospital

Submitted on 13/09/2019 at 15:30
Published on nhs.uk at 16:06

Thank you for taking the time to leave us some very detailed feedback about the recent episode of care your daughter had with the Gynaecology Team at Eastbourne District General Hospital; we very much appreciate the comments you have made.

The Trust works hard to provide a high standard of care to all patients, regardless of age, and so it is of both concern and disappointment to read this was not the experience your daughter had, or for you as a worried and caring parent. Please accept our apologies for the obvious concern caused to you, together with our sincere apologies to your daughter as she must have felt incredibly uncomfortable and upset by the way she was treated by staff. It would also appear that the Trust values of treating patients with kindness, compassion, dignity and respect were absent at various points of your daughter’s care pathway, and we are sorry for this. We want patients, and their relatives, to have confidence in the care they are about to receive, and in the staff providing it, and we are disappointed by the experience you have both had.

As this is a public forum, it would not be appropriate for us to respond in specific detail about your daughter’s care and treatment as we want to respect her right to privacy; however, it is evident that there is some learning for us to undertake from the experience of care you have described and if you feel able to, we would very much like to hear from you directly. We therefore warmly encourage you to contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) by email at esh-tr.palse@nhs.net or by calling the team on 01323 435886.

As part of the aforementioned values, it is important that we respect our patients by ensuring we communicate effectively with them. Whilst clinic delays do occur as sometimes patients need additional time to speak about their symptoms, test results, care plans or future care, staff do need to regularly keep patients updated so they have an idea of when they will be seen. This value does not appear to have been upheld, and we apologise for this.

Lastly, we are sorry that you felt you had to repeat your daughter’s medical history in clinic. Although the notes of any previous care would have been on file, it is often helpful to take a new history in case symptoms have changed (for better or worse), and re-examine various aspects of the patient’s health to assess for things such as current pain levels, or additional symptoms. If this was not explained to you, then we apologise for this oversight as we need to ensure patients understand why we are asking them to repeat their symptoms and medical history.

We will ensure that the feedback you have kindly provided is shared with the senior clinical and management team for the Gynaecology Team, as they will want to determine from this how best to improve patient experience. We very much hope your daughter is well, and that any further testing or care required is in hand. If you need any assistance in progressing care and the Gynaecology Team are unable to help, then do contact PALS on the details provided earlier.

Our best wishes go out to you, your daughter and your family for good health and well-being.

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k