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Long waits - poor patient flow - poor experiences

Posted By matarwm65

"Long waits - poor patient flow - poor experiences"

About: Balfour Hospital / Day Unit

(as the patient),

Having had several appointments at NHS Orkney for myself or with a loved one, I feel I have become somewhat of a specialist in what to expect when visiting. 

Visiting NHS Orkney has for several years now been a tedious experience which can be compared to watching paint dry. Whether an appointment for a procedure for myself or a loved one upon each occasion we have attended the day unit for our procedures and waited for what feels like an eternity to be seen. 

We are instructed no food, no water from 22:00 the night before and arrive by 09:00. We are brought through by 09:30 and proceed to wait with little and infrequent interaction with any staff. See you soon are the words from the consultant when they can eventually see you, they won’t be long say the nurses. 

Regardless, each procedure has occurred no earlier than 13:00 on each of our visits waiting no less than 4 hours each and every time, the worst we waited until 15:00 having arrived at 09:00 as instructed.

NHS Orkney, this needs to be looked at. There cannot be any logical need for us to arrive and wait an eternity for a procedure, people are often nervous enough on the day of their procedures without the endless waiting. It’s not patient centred, nor a good bedside experience. 
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Responses

Response from Julie Tait, Patient Experience Officer, NHS Orkney 5 months ago
Julie Tait
Patient Experience Officer,
NHS Orkney

Submitted on 24/10/2024 at 14:16
Published on Care Opinion at 14:16

Dear matarwm65

Thank you for your feedback about your experience in NHS Orkney's Day Unit. I am very sorry you found this to be unsatisfactory.

I have asked our Senior Charge Nurse for the Day Unit to provide some information that may be able to explain why some of your issues have arisen. I will respond again as soon as I hear back from them.

In the meantime, if you would like to discuss this in more detail and provide your personal details, we can respond with more specific information. You can contact our feedback service by emailing ork.feedback@nhs.scot

Otherwise, I will provide a further response as soon as possible.

Kind regards

Julie

Julie Tait, Patient Experience Officer, NHS Orkney

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Response from Julie Tait, Patient Experience Officer, NHS Orkney 5 months ago
Julie Tait
Patient Experience Officer,
NHS Orkney

Submitted on 30/10/2024 at 08:30
Published on Care Opinion at 08:30

Dear matarwm65

Further to our earlier response, I am now able to provide further information from our Day Unit Senior Charge Nurse. They have advised:

Regrettably, it is not always easy to predict accurately what time somebody will be going to theatre, so we always endeavour to provide regular updates throughout the day to patients in Day Unit who are waiting for their procedures. I'm very sorry that on this occasion we didn't get that right.

We only have ten bedded bays and on most days we have more than ten patients in the department. The schedule for theatre is varied and, dependant on the nature of the procedure, some patients require to be taken earlier than others. This does mean that some patients do have a longer wait.

We will continue to be mindful that it is challenging to be waiting for a procedure for an unknown length of time and I am sorry our communication with you was not as you would have expected. It may be helpful to know that Day Unit staff are always happy to give updates when asked and I would advise any patient wishing to understand more about what their wait may be, to talk to a member of staff at the time.

I am very sorry again that you have found your experiences in the Day Unit to be unsatisfactory. I hope the above is helpful.

Kind regards

Julie

Julie Tait, Patient Experience Officer, NHS Orkney

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
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