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Appalled at her treatment

Posted By Wendyb6969

"Appalled at her treatment"

About: St John's Hospital / Accident & Emergency St John's Hospital / Gynaecology

(as a parent/guardian),

My daughter was triaged by NHS24 having already been told she had unfortunately lost one kidney due to a very large cyst on her ovary, and was told to seek help if she experienced pain in the other kidney, which she was at that time.

A&E were superb, gave her water and carried out obs before transferring her to gynae ward. Here she was left in a waiting room having had a catheter fitted which had then leaked all over her leggings & floor, there were men in the waiting room as well. She wasn't given water or food from being taken to the gynae ward at 11 until 5.45 when she was discharged. It seemed like they didn't want to give her a bed as they'd have had to admit her, instead she was left her with no pain meds, fluids, nothing all this time.

It felt like Dr's looked down rather than at her and didn't make eye contact. Other patients asked nurses to please give her some pain meds. My husband took her some food and water up as they just didn't seem interested, even with the knowledge she had just been told one kidney was now not viable due to the damage from the cyst.

Thankfully she had private medical insurance and is now being treated by two superb caring Consultants, however this poor experience left her with severe anxiety, which she's never had and a distrust of the medical profession at SJH. 

Having worked in the NHS myself, the way in which she was treated by gynae ward was extremely poor. Absolutely shocking to treat patients like this. She's now facing major surgery and has just been phoned a week later to say they found a UTI? I'm appalled at her treatment. 

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Responses

Response from Gillian Treadwell, Senior Charge Nurse, Gynaecology, St John's Hospital, NHS Lothian 2 weeks ago
Gillian Treadwell
Senior Charge Nurse, Gynaecology, St John's Hospital,
NHS Lothian

Submitted on 25/03/2025 at 11:07
Published on Care Opinion at 11:53

Dear Wendyb6969,

Thank you for reaching out to share your concerns about your daughter's experience on Ward 12. I would first like to sincerely apologise for any distress caused to both you and your daughter. This is not the standard of care we aim to provide, and I appreciate you bringing this to our attention.

Ward 12 operates a triage service, similar to an A&E setting which means that unfortunately there can be significant wait times depending on the on the amount of patients attending and the urgency of their conditions. Our Medical Team also covers several areas and are sometimes required in emergency theatre which can further contribute to delays.

I am very sorry to hear about the difficulties your daughter faced with her catheter. I appreciate that this must have been distressing, particularly in a communal waiting area. Due to limited space, the waiting room is shared and while we understand this may be uncomfortable at times, it is unfortunately not something we can always control.

Regarding refreshments, I regret that your daughter was not offered any food or drinks during her wait. While patients should have access to these, I acknowledge that this did not happen in this case, and I will remind the team of the importance of offering refreshments to those waiting for extended periods.

In relation to your concern about your daughter not being offered a bed, I would like to assure you that if a patient requires a bed while awaiting clinical review, we will always provide one if available. Unfortunately, the ward has been extremely busy, and I would assume that if your daughter was not offered a bed, it was due to availability rather than any reluctance to admit her. Patient comfort and safety are extremely important to us and I regret that we were unable to accommodate her in this instance.

Once again, I am sorry for your daughter's experience and I appreciate you taking the time to bring this to our attention. If you would like us to investigate this further, I would suggest that you contact the Patient Experience Team by Telephone on 0131 536 3370 (Mon-Fri, 9-2pm) or by email LOTH.feedback@nhs.scot

Kind regards,

Gill

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

Update posted by Wendyb6969 (a parent/guardian)

Thankyou for the reply, however she had already been triaged 3 times throughout her journey from 111 to gynea. She had multiple urine tests, told 4 times she wasn't pregnant, yet an injection was not found until a week later.

With regards to the availability of beds, the ward appeared to be empty with multiple beds available. I understand she wouldn't have necessarily been offered food, but water when the staff were already aware she had lost one kidney to me is neglectful. She was also told she couldn't go home as her BP was so high, yet it wasn't checked again prior to being told to go home! Her urologist had asked for one of the Dr's to contact them, however it was hours before someone finally made this call and he explained how urgent her situation was.

I appreciate staff are busy with emergencies and other patients, having worked in healthcare myself for over 20 yrs. However she was seriously unwell, and spent a day where this wasn't picked up, in fact all it did was cause her extreme distress and a mistrust.

My daughter is now awaiting urgent pelvic surgery and thankfully under a superb Gynaecology Consultant supported by a fantastic urologist as well.

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