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Care Opinion

Heart valve replacement

Posted By cheetahny49

"Heart valve replacement"

About: Forth Valley Royal Hospital / Cardiology Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France / Cardiology & Coronary Care Unit

(as the patient),

After a few years of monitoring I had an Aortic valve replacement and double bypass operation in mid December 2021. I thank all those involved both surgically and on the recovery ward during my stay in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. The whole concept of replacing a valve still baffles me and I am so grateful for the skill of those involved in the process and also so grateful for those who cared for me in the post-operative ward. Unfortunately my recovery has not been straight forward with some A/F, fluid aspirated from a lung and fine tuning required on my beta blocker levels, all these problems were dealt with very professionally in Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Dr Hammell being of particular help, but all is very well at present.

It seems churlish to criticise after such a success but a couple of points that may be helpful to others.

Information about my medication was given to my wife at my discharge. No information was given as to when I had received my last set of pills, so pain relief once at home was a bit ad hoc.

My discharge from Edinburgh took place just before a public holiday. Shortly after discharge my wife, concerned about an episode of A/F, rang the cardiology ward in Edinburgh. Having been assured they would be available for advice, they declined advice and said ring the GP which was shut for the holiday, NHS 111 replied after a 2 hour wait and a trip to FVRH led to an increased beta blocker. The promise of support from the ward although designed to reassure, in my case was inaccurate.

Please be reassured these points are very minor in the scheme of things and my main thoughts are of thanks for all the care I received.

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Responses

Response from Catherine Mondoa, Consultant Nurse/Cardiology Manager, Cardiology Deparment, Forth Valley Royal Hospital nearly 2 years ago
Catherine Mondoa
Consultant Nurse/Cardiology Manager, Cardiology Deparment,
Forth Valley Royal Hospital

English

Submitted on 02/05/2022 at 09:26
Published on Care Opinion at 09:26

Dear Cheetahny49

Thank you for your feedback. I am so pleased to hear you are doing well after your surgery despite some early setbacks. It sounds as though your care has been very good for the most part but there are some things which might have been better. We are very grateful that you have taken the time to highlight these – as you say, your insights are likely to help us improve care for future patients, so we really appreciate you taking the time to let us know about some things which we should improve. I am sure our colleagues in NHS Lothian will find your observations really valuable and I think you’ll hear from them directly. We will work with them to make sure the information you get when you are discharged home is accurate – it sounds as though it could have been better.

I will be sure to let those involved in your care know how grateful you are. Thank you again for taking the time to get in touch.

Take care

Catherine

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Response from Louise Davies, Patient Experience Officer, Patient Experience Team, NHS Lothian nearly 2 years ago
Louise Davies
Patient Experience Officer, Patient Experience Team,
NHS Lothian

Submitted on 05/05/2022 at 17:15
Published on Care Opinion at 17:15

picture of Louise Davies

Dear cheetahny49

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us via Care Opinion. It is lovely to hear such kind comments regarding the care you received at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh when you attended for an aortic valve replacement and double bypass.

I am really sorry to hear that at the time of your discharge, you were not given sufficient or accurate information regarding pain relief or who to contact with any concerns. It must have been quite distressing for you and your wife when she called the cardiology ward for advice and this was not given, despite you being instructed to do so.

I would like to assure you that your feedback will be shared with the relevant Clinical Management Team, and this will be reviewed appropriately. Your story will be very helpful for them to identify learning from and will help improve the experience of patients going forward. It will also be really rewarding for staff who looked after you during your time in hospital to know that their hard work has been appreciated.

I was pleased to read that staff at Forth Valley Royal Hospital were able to assist you with your recovery and I hope that you are still making good progress.

Thank you again for taking the time to share this with us.

Take care

Louise

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