Care Opinion

Dreadful experience in Cardiology at Good Hope

Posted By roy247

"Dreadful experience in Cardiology at Good Hope"

About: Good Hope Hospital / Cardiology Queen Elizabeth Hospital / Cardiology West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust

(as the patient),

I had a dreadful experience in the cardiology ward two years ago. I was rushed via ambulance to A&E at Good Hope. The ambulance had arrived quickly and everything was fine with getting there, it was whilst waiting for an angiogram that was worrying.

I was transferred to the Cardiology unit and had been waiting a while to be seen and told I was in a queue, I had asked on many occasions to see somebody more senior as I had suffered four other attacks whilst waiting and I explained if I had another attack that I could die. Eventually the registrar came and offered for me to be transferred to either Heartlands or Queen Elizabeth, I opted for QE as in my opinion this was the place for cardio experts.

Again I was transferred very quickly via ambulance and once at the QE I had the andiogram within hours and had a by pass three days later. I can not fault the QE at all, they were very professional and the nurses were friendly and helpful.

I felt I had to fight about the seriousness of my condition with a junior member of staff at Good Hope. In my opinion there are too many junior staff making too many decisions. I feel they need to pay more attention to details and it makes me wonder what the ratio is between the admin staff and the clinical staff.

I am lucky that I know my way around the medical profession and was therefore aware of the need to push my case further. If I had not I believe I would have waited another two days as there seemed to be no emergency or priority present. It felt as if I was just a bloke in a bed.

I now attend Good Hope on a regular basis for check-ups and can say that I have never had a problem since. It was just that experience on the Cardiology unit, I am not sure whether this has since been transferred to the QE.

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Responses

Response from University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust 13 years ago
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 04/08/2011 at 17:31
Published on Care Opinion on 05/08/2011 at 10:03

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on your experience at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (part of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust).

We welcome all feedback and would like to assure you that all comments are taken seriously and acted upon as part of our ongoing commitment to improving patient experience.

We are sorry to hear that initially your experience at another hospital was not what you hoped for. We are however pleased that whilst being cared for in our hospital you feel your experience was very positive. The managers of the departments you have mentioned and other senior colleagues have been made aware of your comments and will ensure that they are passed on to the relevant staff members. It is a real morale boost for staff to receive feedback like this from patients. It means such a lot to know that the hard work, dedication and commitment of our staff is recognised and valued in this way. It is also very satisfying for staff to hear they have made such a difference to patients.

If you would like to discuss anything in more detail please contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) who will be pleased to assist you. You can contact them by phone 0121 371 3280, by email PALS@uhb.nhs.uk , via the hospital website http://www.uhb.nhs.uk/pals.htm or in person by dropping in between 10am-4pm (Mon-Fri) to the PALS office located to the left of the Information Desk inside the main entrance of the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Response from Regional Head of Patient Experience, West Midlands Ambulance Service 13 years ago
West Midlands Ambulance Service

Submitted on 15/08/2011 at 13:04
Published on Care Opinion at 14:37

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on your experience with the ambulance service. We welcome the opportunity to speak to patients on their experiences. If you would like to speak to a member of the Patient Experience please contact telephone number 01384 246366 or email pals@wmas.nhs.uk

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