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Inappropriate leaflet caused unnecessary stress

Posted By Our story

"Inappropriate leaflet caused unnecessary stress"

About: Antrim Area Hospital / Breast Care Antrim Area Hospital / Day Surgery Unit

(as a relative),

I provide support for my elderly aunt who recently underwent surgery for breast cancer. I would like to acknowledge the excellent care she had under Mr Whiteside and his team and for the care shown to her at the Day Sugery appointment- everyone was incredible and attentive to her needs. She is in her 80s, this was a mammoth undertaking and caused a great deal of worry, but the staff we interacted with were amazing. 

We had a meeting with Mr Whiteside in Antrim hospital a few weeks ago and we were delighted no further treatment is required. We left that appointment elated.

However, 5 days later we received a letter from the nurse specialist list team which included a leaflet of what to expect when getting radiotherapy. When I visited my aunt that day she was in tears that she would have to have further treatment after being advised differently. It was the most an hour before she settled.

I rang the nurse specialist for breast cancer who advised that because they are so busy they send this letter to everyone with a diagnosis of breast cancer and that the letter states it may be required.

I am astounded at the lack of thought applied to this process. There was no appreciation for the level of stress they caused. This process is not in anyway person centred- really I feel it’s only for convenience to the staff. There was no consideration of the patient and the stress they have caused.

You may view this as a small thing but a cancer diagnosis brings a huge level of stress to the person and their family and I believe they should be doing everything to reduce the stress. Mr Whiteside had graciously taken the time to explain it all to us in a clinic, but his good work was undone by this particularly thoughtless act

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Responses

Response from Marbeth King, Lead Nurse, Day Surgery Unit Antrim & Whiteabbey, Day Surgery Mid Ulster, Pre-op Assessment Antrim & Causeway, NHSCT 16 months ago
Marbeth King
Lead Nurse, Day Surgery Unit Antrim & Whiteabbey, Day Surgery Mid Ulster, Pre-op Assessment Antrim & Causeway,
NHSCT

Submitted on 28/12/2023 at 16:32
Published on Care Opinion at 16:32

Dear Our story

My name is Marbeth King and I am the Lead Nurse for Day Surgery. I am only able to respond to this section of your feedback and I would like to thank you for acknowledging the excellent care given to your aunt in Day Surgery and very happy to hear that she requires no further treatment.

I will pass on your feedback to the staff in Day surgery how you felt they were amazing and attentive in caring for your aunt.

Kind regards

Marbeth

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Response from Blaithnid Hughes, General Manager, Surgery, NHSCT 16 months ago
Blaithnid Hughes
General Manager, Surgery,
NHSCT

Submitted on 05/01/2024 at 10:57
Published on Care Opinion at 10:57

Dear Our Story, Patient and Relative

I am Blaithnid Hughes; General Manager with responsibility for the Breast Service.

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us.

I see that my colleague Marbeth has already acknowledged your kind feedback regarding the Day Surgery Team - who are nothing short of excellent.

Mr Whiteside is one of our most experienced Breast Surgeons and I know that under his care your Aunt will have received exceptional care and treatment plans. Thank you for your feedback on that aspect of your journey.

I am saddened to learn that your otherwise positive experience has been tainted by your Aunt receiving an information leaflet which she found worrying and confused her understanding of what she had been advised by Mr Whiteside. I absolutely appreciate how this made her feel and I sincerely apologise for this impact.

Our suite of communication leaflets are tailored, insofar as is possible, to avoid unhelpful or misleading information being received by patients. I can assure you that we do already have processes in place to ensure that what our patients receive is relevant to their treatment plan and their journey. I again apologise that in this instance, there seems to have been an error made which resulted in unnecessary worry and stress for your Aunt and indeed yourself.

We have been extremely short handed in terms of admin support within this very small team for a number of months now and I am so grateful to those who show up day and daily and do their best, despite the pressures - often undertaking a variety of tasks beyond their clinical responsibilities. Thankfully some admin support has now become available and it is my hope that with another pair of hands the process will have less room for error and extra assurances in place regarding sharing of leaflets and information.

I wish your Aunt well on her recovery journey and thank you again for the opportunity to respond to your feedback

Blaithnid

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