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Long wait for service

Posted By unhappy snorer

"Long wait for service"

About: Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France / Sleep Medicine

(as the patient),

Considering that sleep apnea is, supposedly, a serious condition that can, potentially, lead to heart attacks, strokes and death, I find that the lack of haste to confirm, or refute, GP's diagnoses of same, or to investigate and report back to the GP and patient, is appalling.   

In my instance from GP referral to initial appointment took six months.   From initial appointment to sleep clinic attendance, another six months.    I am still waiting since late last year for the report from the clinic as to the results.   I am assuming, based on the previous time taken, that I will have to wait until May before I get the report.   Then how long before anything is done to rectify the problem?

In the meantime, I have been diagnosed (at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh) as having had a mild stroke in February 2018.

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Responses

Response from Helen Wallace, Patient Experience Lead, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, NHS Lothian 7 years ago
Helen Wallace
Patient Experience Lead, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh,
NHS Lothian

Submitted on 08/03/2018 at 08:38
Published on Care Opinion at 10:19

Dear unhappy snorer

I am sorry to hear about the delays you have experienced recently with a diagnosis and treatment plan for your condition. To enable us to look into this further for you, please contact the Patient Experience Team on 0131 536 3370 so that they can take some details from you.

I hope that we can help to get some answers for you soon

Kind Regards

Helen

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Update posted by unhappy snorer (the patient)

Thank you, Helen.

I called the Patient Experience Team on Thursday 08:03:18 and passed on the required details.

On Monday 12:03:18 I received a call from the Sleep Clinic stating that due to staff shortages/illness/maternity leave there had been a delay in dealing with the reports and that they had got around to mine on Friday (09:03:18). What a coincidence! The day after I had called the Patient Experience Team.

I was informed that I did, indeed, have sleep apnea and I needed to have a CPAP machine. Despite there being a (4 month) waiting list for an appointment I was offered an overnight CPAP education appt for 02:04:18.

The person that called me spent most of the call trying to get me to give her permission to close the complaint and mark it with a satisfactory response. I repeatedly pointed out to her that I should not have had to make a complaint in the first instance.

The link between sleep apnea and hypertension, heart attacks and strokes is established. It is highlighted in the paperwork sent out by the sleep clinic. Yet, despite being informed, by my GP on referral and me in the submitted paperwork, there was no sense of urgency to deal with the problem. I then had a minor stroke and was admitted to the Royal Infirmary.

This was all pointed out to the caller from the sleep clinic who kept saying "If we were aware of your medical history...." They were. The only thing they were not aware of was my stroke. The stroke team were informed of my attendance at the Sleep Clinic, but no further action appears to have been taken. WHY NOT?

There needs to be more "JOINED UP" thinking and acting within the NHS. If a person has been admitted to hospital, for whatever, and are found to be in need of the services of another department from the one that is initially dealing with them, then rather than have them come back to the hospital after discharge, deal with them. The consultants and doctors are there. All the labs, X-Ray machines, MRI's, etc are there. It is not necessary to make an appointment for tests, etc, which can be carried out while the patient is there.

Response from Helen Wallace, Patient Experience Lead, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, NHS Lothian 7 years ago
Helen Wallace
Patient Experience Lead, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh,
NHS Lothian

Submitted on 16/03/2018 at 11:05
Published on Care Opinion at 12:00

Dear unhappy snorer

Thanks for getting back in touch. I am glad to hear that you have now received your results although I am sorry for how the situation was handled.

I absolutely agree that we should have a joined up approach for patients who require input from more than one department and I have shared your feedback this morning with the Senior Management team for Sleep Medicine.

I hope that you will begin to see some improvement after your forthcoming appointment.

Kind Regards

Helen

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