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Incorrect information given to terminal cancer patient with ...

Posted By Ella16sun

"Incorrect information given to terminal cancer patient with covid"

About: Forth Valley Royal Hospital / GP Out of Hours Forth Valley Royal Hospital / Minor Injuries Assessment Service Forth Valley Royal Hospital / Oncology unit NHS 24 / NHS 24 (111 service)

(as the patient),

We contacted NHS24 in the evening in April. This call was to request antiviral meds for myself who has terminal cancer. Our call was dealt with by a doctor of Forth Valley Royal Hospital (FVRH).

This doctor gave us 100% incorrect information and told us antiviral meds did not exist for treating vulnerable people with covid.

We told the doctor that we knew that antivirals did exist for use under these circumstances. Also this info is clearly covered in the NHS website.But they continued to deny the treatment existence.

We ended up terminating the call with no resolution.

We eventually got help from McMillan nurses at FVRH who confirmed that antivirals for use with vulnerable people with covid exists and were prescribed.

We were given phone numbers to the high dependency unit within the minor injuries dept at FVRH and they dealt with the request.

Molnupiravir antivirals were prescribed through using above route.

The main reason for this post is to make FVRH aware that this point of contact staff, were not aware of the provision of antivirals for vulnerable patients. In fact, the exact opposite and incorrect information is given to us. This in turn puts me and other vulnerable people at greater risk of developing more serious covid symptoms.

This incident caused great distress to my family at the time, when we were in need of critical help and direction.

This is serious and needs resolved.

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Responses

Response from Shona Lawrence, Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care, NHS 24 12 months ago
Shona Lawrence
Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care,
NHS 24

Submitted on 19/04/2023 at 21:55
Published on Care Opinion on 20/04/2023 at 08:40

picture of Shona Lawrence

Dear Ella16sun

Thank you for sharing your experience on Care Opinion. I am so sorry to learn of your diagnosis. I am also sorry to learn of the distress this incident caused you and your family.

I see NHS Forth Valley are tagged to your story. They are best placed to respond to the issues you raise.

NHS 24 have been alerted to your story as you mention an initial call to our service. This resulted in a referral to NHS Forth Valley who subsequently contacted you. I am pleased the McMillan Nurses and the Minor Injuries Unit at FVRH were able to assist.

Should you care to share any detail about your call to NHS 24, we would be pleased to hear further from you. You can contact our Patient Experience Team at Patient.Experience@nhs24.scot.nhs.uk

Thanks again for getting in touch.

Take care meantime

Shona

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Response from Susan Davidson, Oncology Unit Manager, Oncology, NHS Forth Valley 12 months ago
Susan Davidson
Oncology Unit Manager, Oncology,
NHS Forth Valley

Submitted on 20/04/2023 at 10:08
Published on Care Opinion at 10:45

Dear Ella16sun,

I am so sorry to hear about your experience and the distress this caused yourself and your family,The team concerned will be best placed to respond to your post.

As the oncology manager I am reassured that on contacting the nurse specialist team (MacMillan nurses) you were supported to receive the treatment and care you required.

If there is anything you wish to discuss in regard to the nurse specialist team or oncology please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Take care

Thank you for your feedback

Susan

Clinical Nurse Manager/Oncology Department manager

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Response from Donna Clark, Clinical Manager, Medical, FVRH 12 months ago
Donna Clark
Clinical Manager, Medical,
FVRH

Submitted on 20/04/2023 at 14:27
Published on Care Opinion at 15:22

Dear Ella16sun

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. May I take this opportunity to apologise for your experience and for any distress this may have caused.

It is always difficult for our staff to hear that we have not met the needs and expectations of our patients, as it is never our intention to cause any additional stress or concern. I would really like to be given the opportunity to look further into your concerns and to do this I need some further information. Can I please ask you to contact me on 01324 566822, or by email, donna.clark@nhs.scot. Alternatively, if I am not available you can contact Ric Atalla, Operational Manager, Emergency Care and Inpatient Services by email, ric.atalla@nhs.scot who will be able to support you.

I do hope that you are feeling better, and look forward to hearing from you.

Kind Regards

Donna Clark

Interim Service Manager

Emergency Care & In-patient Services

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