Care Opinion

Text size

Theme

Language

Videos in BSL or ISL
Help with language translation
Help with reading or listening

The worst department of any hospital I have...

Story from nhs.uk

"The worst department of any hospital I have..."

About: The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust

I had an appointment at 4pm to see the doctor and arrived on time and was asked to go for a hearing test first which I did then I was asked to seat in the E N T waiting area so I waited for my number to be called on looking at my watch I realized that the time was 5.30 pm I do understand that a department can over run but when you see most of the staff with there coats on and saying goodbye to each other you start thinking have I been forgotten I checked my watch once again and found the time to be 6.00 I then noticed the cleaners emptying the bins around me and doors being locked. I found myself sitting on my own and noticed the consultant walking out of clinic so clearly I was not seeing who I had waited two hours to see so walked around to try and find someone and when I did I was advised that I was next and was being seen by a registrar who I never seen before and therefore no continuity I was asked to return to the waiting room not once was I informed that the clinic was running late or approached by any member of staff I feel that the service I have received and please remember that I am not in the best of health has by far the most unprofessional and uncaring service I have ever experienced in any NHS hospital

More about:
nhs.uk logo
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust 5 years ago
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 30/10/2019 at 09:17
Published on nhs.uk at 09:17

Thank you for taking the time to tell us of your experience in our ENT Clinic and I am sorry that it was not a good one. All outpatient clinics have a fluctuation to them which can mean that they run late for some patients but on time for others depending on the particular condition and support required by a patient which may not be known until they are in the consulting room. The team do try to identify patients who may have a delay and inform them but if the nurse is required to support a poorly patient it is not always possible to leave the room. We try to, where possible, keep patients informed of delays but very often we may have 5 clinic lists at the same time and the flow of each clinic can be different. Oral surgery also share the waiting area and tend to finish earlier than ENT so it is possible that it was those staff that were leaving and locking up.

Your comments have been shared with the Outpatients Services Manager and the ENT Consultant who will mention this both at outpatient department staff meetings and the ENT Clinical Governance meeting to remind staff to keep patients updated of delays. All outpatients clinics are being audited (for clinic appointment times compared to time patient called in) to see if we have the correct structure to the clinic timing or whether they need adjusting.

Again I can only apologise for your experience and that you felt it was both unprofessional and uncaring, please be reassured that we are working to reduce delays, improve communication and that your concerns have been taken into account. Your comments have been shared at all levels of the team so that they can understand the impact of limited communication with patients who are waiting for an appointment.

Kind regards

Emma Harrison

Patient Experience and Public Involvement Lead

email: emma.harrison@qehkl.nhs.uk

tel: 01553 613613 x 2432

Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k