"Not getting the right treatment"

Thank you for taking the time to post your comments. As all posts are anonymous we unfortunately do not have your father's details to investigate this further.

Please could you ask him to contact me directly by emailing maxine.may@sash.nhs.uk and I will ensure that I pass this on to the relevant clinical member of staff to investigate.

Kind regards

Maxine May

Communications Officer

Dear carthorse

I'm very sorry that your father has not received the warfarin treatment yet. Please could you contact me if you would like me to sort this out. My email is ben.mearns@sash.nhs.uk and my secretary can be contacted via switchboard pn 01737 768511 x2994. If you would rather speak to our PALS department please do so via the switchboard, but it is important that we ensure his treatment is correct and safely administered.

I would be grateful for your help.

Kind regards

Dr Ben Mearns

Dear carthorse

Thank you for emailing me with the details and we have now also made contact with your mother by telephone.

It would appear that the clinic asked the GP practice to start warfarin and the practice did not feel that they were able to do so. We will speak with them to understand the reasons why as we usually would ask practices to start warfarin in this way.

Our anticoagulant clinic tell me that they could offer anticoagulation from Comet ward at Crawley Hospital but after speaking with your mother this clearly would not be appropriate for your father to travel to back and forth.

Therefore I have asked the clinical team to look into alternatives such as using our hospital at home service or district nurses to be able to provide the same service but either from home or the local practice.

This highlights to me how patient-centred care is supposed to work and how a system can get in the way of delivering it. It is obvious what has to happen, but our usual process is not going to deliver it. Therefore we have to change the process in future to ensure that this does not happen again.

I will work closely with the departments involved to make sure that in future we do not do the same again and I hope that by the end of today you will have a clear and straight-forward plan in place that puts your father's needs first.

Please let me know if you do not have this clear plan by tomorrow.

Once again, thank you for your feedback. It makes a huge difference to future patients and is most appreciated.

Kindest regards

Dr Ben Mearns

Dear carthorse

Many thanks for keeping in touch via email. I am very glad that the situation has been resolved and that your father will be able to receive the correct treatment from his own home via the district nurses.

I will speak with haematology today to ensure that patients who require the same service in future are identified at the start of the process and change our referral process to make that happen.

Thanks again for your feedback. Not only does it help us to solve the initial problem but to improve our services for everyone.

Kindest regards

Dr Ben Mearns

Thank you for the update. That's completely unacceptable and I will get straight back to you.

I completely understand how annoying and frustrating this is.

Dr Ben Mearns

Dear carthorse

I am very sorry that the district nurse did not come yesterday. I have spoken with the GP surgery manager today and understand that they were arranging an alternative with Comet ward at Crawley at the same time.

They told me that your father has agreed to attend Comet ward for anticoagulation and I have confirmed that he is booked in to Comet ward for Tuesday to see their team.

I was told that a district nurse was coming yesterday and I will investigate why this did not happen when the secretary returns.

I believe that the fact that two organisations were trying to offer solutions at the same time led to the problem yesterday but we will look through this in detail to prevent a similar future occurrence.

Please contact me if you need anything further and I am very sorry for the frustration and confusion. We will explore in detail why this happened.

If you would like to confirm the details you can speak directly to Comet ward at Crawley hospital and if you would like to speak further please let me know.

Kindest regards

Dr Ben Mearns

Thank you so much for the emails today. As your father would like to get started on the anticoagulation as soon as possible I am grateful to you for bringing him up to my clinic tomorrow morning. I can then get everything started ahead of the clinic on Tuesday.

I am very much looking forward to meeting you both and we can agree how to improve our systems together in the morning.

Many thanks.

Dr Ben Mearns

Dear carthorse

I had the pleasure of meeting your father this morning and we discussed everything in detail. I am pleased to say that we were able to get the treatment started over this weekend with a clear plan for review on Tuesday at Comet ward.

We also arranged for our pharmacist to counsel him on the use of the medication and got everything done as quickly as possible. He told me that it all now makes sense and he's clear on the plan.

I also managed to arrange with our Consultant Haematologist Dr Jackson that he and I will together ensure that the new anticoagulant guidelines have a strong patient-centred approach to ensure that for every patient we can guide them through the process seamlessly and confidently. He is drafting those guidelines as I type this.

Your feedback has highlighted a gap in the service and we are most grateful to you for doing so. It is our duty to provide care in a way that gives our patients confidence and clarity and this experience will help us to ensure that we continue to do that.

I am very grateful to you and you know where I am if you need me again.

Kindest regards

Dr Ben Mearns