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Not trained enough patient champion

Story from nhs.uk

"Not trained enough patient champion "

About: London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust

I went to a&e Northwick Park today 10/12/24 at 12 noon due to chronic chest infection so I can get prescriptions of antibiotics to stop spreading the severity of the infection I was assessed by nurse at Urgent care and the she referred me so called patient champion who on first impression confronted me that as I got cough I shouldn’t be visiting A&E and then I explained to her it just not cough it’s chest infection which she was less bother to address the situation and decided to pass my case towards my GEneral practitioner in north Kensington so they will be in touch with me for prescriptions I was utterly shocked by her choice if you see unwell patient and it’s chest infection situation there is no need to punish me and send it over to General practitioner it was just dip mole prescriptions of antibiotics after this I raise my issue to receptionist she was kind enough to understand my situation and advice me to challenge her decision which so called patient champion got bit agitated and keep denying her previous statements after challenging this she finally referrede to me someone who assessed my situation less than 10 min and sent home with antibiotics

All I was asking to help me get antibiotics so I can stop infection as we all knows General practicen are useful and they work hard but due to severity of my case I came to a&e and without holding scientific evidence she was verbally guiding me not knowing consequences that can lead if it’s is not treated in time

So I kindly ask this trust to look in to her position as this may cause harm to someone who’s in need in future

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Responses

Response from London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust 4 months ago
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust

Submitted on 20/12/2024 at 11:00
Published on Care Opinion at 11:00

Dear Service user,

Thank you for reaching out and sharing your experience at Northwick Park on 10/12/24. I am truly sorry to hear about the difficulties you faced during your visit.

I understand that you visited A&E due to a chronic chest infection and were seeking antibiotics to prevent the infection from worsening. It is concerning to hear that you felt confronted by the patient champion and that your situation was not adequately addressed. I apologize for any distress this may have caused you.

Your feedback is important to us, and we take such matters seriously. I have shared your feedback with the department and requested for them to explain the process of how medication is administered in our Urgent Treatment Centres. Please see their response here -

All patients who attend the urgent treatment centre will go through a process called 'streaming' which is undertaken by a clinician (this could be emergency practitioner/advanced practitioner/general practitioner). Following the streaming assessment by the clinician a decision can be made to redirect the patient to another service provider, as in this case the patients GP. We have inclusion and exclusion criteria which is documented in the standard operating procedure for redirection in order to be able to safely redirect patients back to another service provider. For redirection all patients must be clinically well, and all patients will have appropriate targeted observations (BP, Resp, Temp, Heart Rate, Oxygen saturation) recorded in the patients notes. In this case the patient was deemed to meet the criteria for redirection. The streaming clinician will document where they would like the patient to be redirected to (In this case the patients GP in North Kensington).

Patients are redirected to the patient champion- they are there to facilitate the safe direction of patients to the most appropriate service for their presenting complaint. The patient champion is able to book appointments with the patients GP. If the patient champion is unable to offer the patient a time which is appropriate, the patient champion will discuss with the streaming clinician about what to do next. This may mean having the patient seen by the urgent care team in order that the patient is not delayed in terms of assessment and treatment.

Redirection is used frequently within the urgent treatment centre as a way to safely redirect patients to a more appropriate service to meet their health care needs. This also helps to decompress the urgent care/ED and reduce waiting times etc.

I hope this helps with explaining the process a little better. I am glad you were able to receive your antibiotics and hope you are feeling better.

Best regards,

Emma Calnan - Patient Experience Officer

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