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An operation to repair a pharyngeal pouch

Posted By Michael273

"An operation to repair a pharyngeal pouch"

About: Victoria Hospital / Ear, Nose & Throat Victoria Hospital / Pre-assessment

(as the patient),

The initial consultation with the consultant in ENT was informative and helpful and we reached an informed decision to proceed with the operation.

The pre-assessment visit was fine with comprehensive information about what would happen on the day of the operation.

On the day of the operation, it was clear there had been a disconnect between what was said at pre-assessment regarding where I should go and I ended up back in ENT where the operation was to take place despite being told I should not go there.

The staff in Ward 5 were superb, kind, courteous, helpful and nothing was too much trouble. The surgeon was informative and did a good job

This and other experiences underpins my long held belief about NHS, the medical side of things is very good supported by excellent staff. The admin side of things needs to improve.

However, well done to all those at Victoria Hospital Kirkcaldy ENT and Ward 5 and thanks for all your help.

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Responses

Response from Lisa Allan, Senior Charge Nurse, ENT Head & Neck Unit, NHS Fife last month
Lisa Allan
Senior Charge Nurse, ENT Head & Neck Unit,
NHS Fife

Submitted on 28/03/2025 at 13:58
Published on Care Opinion at 13:58

Good Afternoon

I really appreciate you taking the time to post your experience with us. Feedback greatly helps us improve the patient experience.

We are happy to hear that overall your experience has been positive and that your experience with the consultant and in Pre assessment was informative and helpful.

However, it was disappointing to hear that there had been a disconnect along the way. I am happy to discuss this further so that we could improve on this for you and future patients.

I am delighted that your experience within the ENT Head and Neck unit was very positive and that our staff treated you with kindness and respect.

It will give me great pleasure in sharing your experience with the team.

Please don't hesitate to contact myself regarding the Admin side of things that dampened your experience, I will be more than happy to help improve on this for the future.

Best Wishes in your recovery

Lisa

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

Update posted by Michael273 (the patient)

Thank you for your prompt and helpful response. To keep a sense of proportion I want to emphasise that my overall experience was very positive and I see you have understood that.

The area of disconnect is around the leaflet and instructions I was given to report to the SEAL unit on the day of the operation. I could not locate that unit so went to the day intervention unit (close to A& E) where I thought it might be. If that proved to be wrong, I hoped they would redirect me. They knew nothing of my attendance and did not seem to be aware of the SEAL unit but were helpful in calling ENT who told me to report to Ward 5 which turned out to be in the same place as the ENT outpatient clinic which makes sense. However, during the pre assessment I had specifically been told not to report to the ENT department. Everything that was listed to happen at the SEAL unit, then took place in Ward 5.

Later in the day. my wife called the number on the leaflet about SEAL to check on my progress and they knew nothing of me! They diverted the call to Ward 5.

This is not a big issue but it would have been much simpler and less stressful if I had been told in the first place to report to ENT.

You have summarised my feeling well in that this experience merely dampened what was otherwise a very positive visit ( and a successful outcome)

Many thanks.

Response from Lisa Allan, Senior Charge Nurse, ENT Head & Neck Unit, NHS Fife 4 weeks ago
Lisa Allan
Senior Charge Nurse, ENT Head & Neck Unit,
NHS Fife

Submitted on 31/03/2025 at 12:10
Published on Care Opinion at 12:10

Thank you for providing further clarity on what you experienced. I can only apologise on behalf of the ENT Head & Neck Unit. When you attend your pre- assessment appointment, there are instructions available to us as to where your journey will start, whether it will be the ENT Unit, SEAL unit or QMH day surgery. This information would be given to you by the Healthcare professional whilst attending pre-assessment. I do apologise that on that day there had been some confusion which undoubtedly led to heightened stress and anxiety.

Overall I am glad to hear that your experience was positive and greatly appreciate you being so candid. We will most certainly take this on board to prevent this happening in the future.

Best Wishes

Lisa

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