"information about treatment &discharge procedure"

Thank you, Jean, for taking the time to let us know about your daughter’s experience of our hospital. We are disappointed to hear that you were unhappy with her treatment and our discharge process. Making sure our patients are fully informed about all aspects of their care is very important to us, so we are sorry if your daughter felt she wasn’t given all the information she needed during her stay with us. Patients who are well enough to go home and are waiting to be discharged are transferred to the discharge lounge where they can be looked after and kept safe while we get everything ready for their safe discharge. This also enables us to admit more poorly patients needing urgent treatment onto the wards. We acknowledge what you say about the number of people in the lounge. It can get busy at times depending on the number of patients being discharged on any given day. However, there are times when there are very few patients in the lounge. All patients who use our discharge lounge are offered a seat, however those who are using wheelchairs often choose to remain in them. Our aim for patients in the discharge lounge is to provide medication within an hour of receipt of the request. However, there can be a delay depending on the number of patients needing medication. I’m sure you can appreciate that we have to prioritise medication for very poorly patients who have an immediate need over medication for patients who are well enough to leave hospital. If your daughter was in the discharge lounge during a meal time she should have been offered a sandwich for her lunch, along with light refreshments throughout the day. Patients in the lounge are asked every hour if they would like anything to eat or drink. We can only apologise if this did not happen. We have passed on your comments to the team who will discuss your feedback at their next team meeting and see what improvements we can make. If you would like us to look into your concerns in more detail, you are very welcome to get in touch with our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) 0800 0730510.