"Area 4 21/2 hour Wait with appointment"

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on your experience of the Outpatient Clinic you attended at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, and for your very kind words about the nursing staff. We are very concerned to hear that your experience in the clinic was not a positive one due to the delay in being seen. Your comments have been shared with the senior staff responsible for the clinic, they have provided this response: Thank you for bringing this to our attention, we welcome your feedback and aim to use it to improve the service we deliver. We are currently looking into ways of improving the patient flow within Outpatients Area 4. The delays are due to a continuing increase in the number of patients who require this service. The plan in the short term is to ensure that there are a sufficient number of doctors in attendance to enable the clinic to run to time. We will also make changes to the booking system to ensure that it only allows the correct number of patients per time slot. As a long term solution we will be working closely with the Outpatient department to look at the feasibility of extending the clinic times to include evening working and will also consider other solutions. We hope this will have a significant impact on the efficiency of the service we deliver and have a positive impact on the overall patient experience. In addition to this, we are very keen to speak with you further so that we can understand more about your individual experience. If you would like to do this please make contact via our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) team who will make the necessary arrangements. PALS can be contacted by phone 0121 371 3280, by email PALS@uhb.nhs.uk , via the hospital website http://www.uhb.nhs.uk/pals-form.htm or in person by dropping in between 9am – 4.30pm (Mon-Fri) to the PALS office located to the left of the Information Desk in the main entrance of the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.