Care Opinion

Out of Hours

Posted By elephantdq85

"Out of Hours"

About: Lanarkshire Community Services / GP Out of Hours service NHS 24 / NHS 24 (111 service)

(as a service user),

My daughter has Scarlet Fever. Contacted NHS 24 who answered the phone after 2 hours. NHS24 deemed my daughter needed to be seen at 00H by a clinician. OOH contacted me at 22.30, five and a half hours after my call to say she couldn’t be seen as there were no clinicians.

I was advised to phone NHS24 back in the morning to go through it all again or go to A&E if she becomes worse. Disgusted, there is an outbreak of step A in the area, we just need an antibiotic. We offered to send pictures of her symptoms and still declined. Shocked, horrified, I have no words. I’m a nurse and understand our services are stretched but this is unacceptable. 

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Responses

Response from Shona Lawrence, Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care, NHS 24 2 years ago
Shona Lawrence
Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care,
NHS 24

Submitted on 19/12/2022 at 17:31
Published on Care Opinion at 17:34

picture of Shona Lawrence

Dear elephantdq85

I’m so sorry to learn your daughter has Scarlet Fever. I sincerely hope her health improves soon.

I respond to you in relation to the NHS 24 element of your story. I am very sorry for the extended wait time to access our service which I know will have added frustration to an already worrying time. We have seen an unprecedented rise in calls to our service in recent weeks with many calls being received relating to children’s health. This most recent weekend, our call volumes exceeded the forecasted figure by 36%. We do appreciate, for you as a worried parent, waiting an extended time for your call to be answered if not a good experience. We offer a full apology for this. Please be assured we are working exceptionally hard to improve this. Once assessed by us, we clearly determined your daughter required onward care.

The other element of your story is best placed to be responded to by the Out of Hours service within your local Health Board.

I can only imagine how frustrating an experience this would have been for you given you knew the medication required to treat your daughter’s symptoms.

Once again, I am sorry for your frustrating wait to get through to NHS 24. If you care to discuss this further with me, please don’t hesitate to call. You can get me on 07814 299944 or by email at Patient.Experience@nhs24.scot.nhs.uk

Best wishes to you both.

Shona

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Response from Pamela Buddy, Service Manager, Out of Hours Service, NHS Lanarkshire 2 years ago
Pamela Buddy
Service Manager, Out of Hours Service,
NHS Lanarkshire

Submitted on 20/12/2022 at 11:09
Published on Care Opinion at 11:09

picture of Pamela Buddy

Good morning, I am sorry to hear that your daughter is unwell with scarlet fever and I hope that she is now starting to recover from this illness.

As the Service Manager for the OOH service I am sorry you had a negative experience when you were trying to source antibiotics for your daughter.

Unfortunately at times the service does not have the capacity to deal with the increasing numbers of calls and to ensure patient safety our administration team are required to call all patients and inform them they will not be seen by a clinician but can call back NHS24 in the morning or if the patient's condition is urgent then attend ED.

Apologies again and I hope that your daughter's health is improving. If you wish to discuss this further the you can contact the Patient Affairs department by email at: patientaffairs.primarycare@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk

Best wishes, Pamela.

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