"Needs are being ignored after a traumatic experience"

About: Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford) / Gynaecology

(as a service user),

I had an appointment in September and I was expecting it to be about one of 2 separate matters that I had at the time. When I got there the consultant said there was a mistake in reporting that and I said that I was on the waiting list for another issue and he advised that we could ask about this issue while I was there instead.

The consultant asked for a quick overview about my problems and told me to get changed and get on the bed, whilst i was on the bed with my legs in the stirrups he just stayed sat at this computer and occasionally glanced over then back to his computer. This made me very uncomfortable and after having recently had PTSD about sexual abuse and rape I started having a panic attack. During this time his tone of voice was very patronising and he just carried on with the exam and never once suggested that we could stop, he carried on while I was sobbing. Afterwards I couldn't speak or ask any questions that I wanted to ask and he just booked me in for surgery.

I phoned the hospital to try and arrange to have a female gynaecologist instead and after leaving countless messages and I eventually told someone would get in touch we me. I heard nothing from them until I got a prep for surgery letter, I tried many times again to phone up and get in contact with someone and eventually got through to a person who was sympathetic about my situation and told me they would get back in touch with me, but they never did. I recently received another prep for surgery letter so I had to phone up again and managed to get through to someone and they cancelled the surgery and put a note on the system for me to see a female gynaecologist.

Why do I need to keep going through this every time, no one seems to listen, or care when I'm trying to request to see a female gynaecologist, I have to keep going through the same traumatic experience just trying to get someone to listen and attend to my needs. 

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Responses

Response from Kate Saddler, Clinical Matron & Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Eastern Services), Women’s Health (Eastern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 5 days ago
Kate Saddler
Clinical Matron & Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Eastern Services), Women’s Health (Eastern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Submitted on 11/07/2024 at 11:37
Published on Care Opinion at 12:36


picture of Kate Saddler

Dear airzt99,

Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback after what must have been a distressing experience for you. I can only apologise for your experience and would like to apologise for any distress this caused for you.

Care Opinion is anonymous, therefore if you would be willing to send an email to us here at Royal Devon and University Healthcare, I would welcome the opportunity to take a closer look into this for you and would like to rectify this for any future appointments with us. You can contact me directly on kathrynsaddler@nhs.net.

I understand if you decide you would rather not pursue this further in which case please be assured that your feedback will be discussed with our Women’s Health teams as well as at our Gynaecology Governance meeting. Again, I am very sorry for your poor experience of our service and feedback such as yours is crucial for us to improve the patient experience so thank you once again for taking the time to share your story.

Yours sincerely, Kate

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