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They were exceedingly caring and professional

Posted By Rowan 55

"They were exceedingly caring and professional"

About: Crosshouse Hospital / Rapid Assessment and Care Unit (RAC) Crosshouse Hospital / Xrays & Scans

(as a service user),

I was referred by my GP to the Rapid Response Unit in Crosshouse Hospital. I arrived and was seen straight away . I explained my symptoms and a series of tests were undertaken by the staff. Everything was well explained and then I was told they would have to wait for results . We were advised to go to cafe or canteen for something to eat as this would take in excess of an hour. They also advised they would ring me if I was required back sooner. The doctor met with me and asked for some further bloods and process was repeated then I was advised to return following day for CT scan. An injection was given. I returned following day had scan and then results were explained by doctor. At all times staff explained the process . They were exceedingly caring and professional . The only waiting required was for results which was understandable. Unfortunately there is not a huge waiting area and patients used the cafe which was not warm. An excellent service and no comparison from attending A& E which I have done before. Thank you to an excellent team of practitioners and a well designed service. 

The only negative is awaiting medication from the pharmacy which took almost 3 hours despite visits to the pharmacy by both nursing and medical staff. An apology was given but I know that this is a common problem for patients waiting for discharge and needs major changes. Why can patients not be given prescriptions to take to their own pharmacy ? 

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Responses

Response from Adam Williamson, Consultant Physician in Acute Medicine, University Hospital Crosshouse, NHS Ayrshire & Arran 14 months ago
We are preparing to make a change
Adam Williamson
Consultant Physician in Acute Medicine, University Hospital Crosshouse,
NHS Ayrshire & Arran

Submitted on 17/02/2023 at 17:09
Published on Care Opinion at 17:18

Thanks very much for taking the time to let us know about your positive experience in the RAC unit. I'm really pleased to hear that, on the whole, it seems to have been a smooth and professional experience. I'll share this with the RAC team.

For most patients in RAC, we do issue prescriptions that are then taken to our patients own pharmacy- and this usually works well for both patients and our unit. A small number of medications need to be issued by our own pharmacy team here in the hospital. This can be for a number of reasons, but usually relate to more complex medications or medications which require some discussion by the pharmacist with the patient. Our pharmacy team cover a large number of patients at the front door and can often be quite busy.

I think it is worthwhile us raising this issue with them to see if there is any workaround for these situations, as you point out it can sometimes be quite a lengthy wait for these important medications. We have experienced clinical staff in RAC and I wonder if some of these staff might be able to do some of this counselling regarding medications- helping our pharmacy team and also speeding up the process for patients. We actually have a pharmacist joining our RAC team in an advanced clinical practice role and I wonder if this is something he will help us develop.

Thanks again for letting us know how you get on and I hope you are recovering well

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Update posted by Rowan 55 (a service user)

This was a very positive response and I hope some solution can be found which will be helpful for patients and staff.

Response from Roisin Kavanagh, Director of Pharmacy, Pharmacy, NHS Ayrshire and Arran 14 months ago
Roisin Kavanagh
Director of Pharmacy, Pharmacy,
NHS Ayrshire and Arran

I am responsible for the pharmacy service in NHS Ayrshire and Arran

Submitted on 20/02/2023 at 10:14
Published on Care Opinion at 14:39

Dear Rowan 55, thank you for taking the time to let us know of your recent experience and I hope you are feeling better. The time you had to wait for your medicines is longer than expected for which I can only apologise. As Adam described we use different ways of supplying medicines to patients leaving the hospital depending on what suits the person and the type of medicine (whether it can be supplied from their local pharmacy or not).

We are always looking at ways to improve our supply process so I would like to investigate this for you to see if we could have done anything differently or if we could change our process so that a delay could be avoided in future. If you wouldn't mind emailing me at roisin.kavanagh@aapct.scot.nhs.uk with your name and date of birth I can look at the specific details, come back to you with an explanation and let you know of any changes we make as a result.

Kind regards

Roisin

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