"They are so difficult to get hold of for advice."

I'm sorry that this has been your experience,

It would be helpful to make contact with out Patient Experience Team so we can discuss your concerns.

Dear giraffeqt33,

Thank you for sharing your feedback with us on Care Opinion. I am sorry that you have had this experience when trying to contact the Stoma nurses, and that it has left you feeling anxious and unsupported.

I have reached out to the Stoma team at the Western General as well who have provided the information below:

We are a small team of 4 whom have had some changes in staffing, which has meant that there has been training and learning required with new staff. This has meant that the experienced staff left were trying their best to manage the incoming calls and referrals. We have a very high number of calls every day, so we triage the calls and respond as appropriate; however we are aiming to respond within 24-48hrs. The stoma service supports stoma patients in the whole of the Lothians, so demand on our service is often considerable. Now that the new team is more established and all staff able to deal with the incoming calls we are hopefully going to manage the situation more effectively.

I hope that this provides some reassurance moving forward. If you would still like to contact the Patient Experience Team however, please telephone 0131 536 3370 (Mon - Fri, 9am to 2pm) or via LOTH.Feedback@nhs.scot

Best wishes,

Claire