This is Care Opinion [siteRegion]. Did you want Care Opinion [usersRegionBasedOnIP]?
Care Opinion

Very difficult to get a straight answer

Posted By Sofielofie

"Very difficult to get a straight answer"

About: Ipswich Hospital / Paediatrics

(as a parent/guardian),

Having previously sung the praises of the staff on Bergholt ward, we again found ourselves in need of their services when a daughter suffered a recurrent UTI. This time admitted via PAU rather than A&E.

PAU is a crazily busy place, but it runs like clockwork! Student nurse Michaela was amazingly attentive. The school teacher was also wonderful at helping take our daughter's mind off what was happening. A smooth admission to Bergholt was facilitated as they obviously work very closely with each other.

After a brief stay and another round of IV antibiotics we were discharged with oral antibiotics - again well cared for and informed. The consultant ordered a few tests however these were not explained and I had to ask the nurse what they were.....and that scared the life out of me! Still no indication as to what the consultant thinks may be wrong...and just a case of waiting for appointments for the tests. We do have one appointment for a plain old ultrasound in 3 weeks time - the consultant didn't mention an ultrasound so who knows where that has come from!

Unfortunately today during a routine urine dip (to ensure last set of medication had worked) it was found that again our daughter has high levels of infection in her urine. Our GP has sent the consultant a letter to tell her of this new UTI - will there be any kind of urgency put on her case due to a few UTI's since April...I doubt it. The untold damage which could be happening to her kidneys from the 2 instances of pyelonephritis and a possible 3rd seemed to concern the GP, but no one else seems bothered. Let's see if the consultant even acknowledges this new UTI!

I have so much praise for the hospital, they are amazing, however a young family has been left scared and apprehensive that there are serious problems with our five year old and no sense of urgency even though it has been said time and time again that recurrent UTI's can cause irreparable scarring on the kidneys.

More about:
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Dominic Mundy, Patient and Carer Experience Manager, Clinical Directorate, Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust 8 years ago
Dominic Mundy
Patient and Carer Experience Manager, Clinical Directorate,
Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust

Submitted on 03/06/2015 at 14:31
Published on Care Opinion at 16:07

Good afternoon,

I am terribly sorry for the delay in my response to your feedback, I wanted to receive a direct response to your concerns from our Children’s Matron before coming back to you.

Below is the response I have received from Sarah Smith who is keen to speak with you directly to help alleviate some of your concerns.

'I am so sorry to hear that after such a positive experience you have had cause to raise a concern. I can completely understand your anxieties about the health of your daughter, but please let me reassure you that we follow national guidelines to ensure that we appropriately treat children who have a UTI and unfortunately some children do suffer recurrent UTI's. It would be the correct course of action to order an ultrasound first to review the kidneys and the bladder, and then have a follow up appointment with the consultant to discuss the findings of the scan. Following that it may be necessary to perform further investigations. There needs to be time for the child to recover from the UTI prior to doing the ultrasound scan, which would have been why it was booked for 3 weeks’ time. Obviously there has been another UTI since this appointment and the consultant should review the letter sent from your GP, but it may not change the course of action. I am sorry that the communication you have received is unclear and this has obviously added to your anxieties and we will be sure to feed this back to our staff. You should have been given an information leaflet about UTI's prior to discharge and I apologise that this was not supplied to you. You can access these on the Ipswich Hospital website in the children's outpatients section: http://www.ipswichhospital.nhs.uk/a-zofservices/clinicaldepartments/childrens-outpatients.htm.'

Our children's matron, Sarah Smith, would like to ensure that the letter from your GP is followed up and relay your concerns to the staff involved. If you could contact her via the hospital switchboard on bleep 515 or via email on Sarah.J.Smith@ipswichhospital.nhs.uk she would be very happy to discuss this further with you.

We hope you will be in touch.

Many thanks

Dominic Mundy

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by Sofielofie (a parent/guardian)

Thank you for your reply Dominic, it has been most helpful.

I have this afternoon contacted Sarah Smith by email. Once again thank you for a prompt reply and ensuring that we are going to be able to access the correct information regarding our daughter.

Kind regards,

Sophie

Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k