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"Abrupt Ambulance crew"

About: Crosshouse Hospital / Ophthalmology Scottish Ambulance Service / Patient Transport Service

(as a relative),

Last week my mother had an appointment at the eye clinic at Crosshouse hospital. These are regular appointments to the eye and other clinics for which my mother books ambulatory transport to take her from home to the hospital and back again. Mostly the service is great, the ambulance crew use a wheelchair to get her from the house to the ambulance as she has mobility problems following knee and hip problems and a broken bone in her back.

However the ambulance crew last week were really abrupt with her, got her up by hoisting her up by grabbing her under her arms and walking her to the ambulance. There are steps down to the pavement which my mother finds difficult. One of the crew members made snide remarks about my mother’s mobility suggesting if she had been more mobile in the past she would have been fine now.

My mother was very upset by the comments and the way she was treated, elderly people should not be treated like this.

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Responses

Response from Martin Esposito, Consultant Paramedic - Major Trauma, Clinical Directorate, Scottish Ambulance Service 8 years ago
Martin Esposito
Consultant Paramedic - Major Trauma, Clinical Directorate,
Scottish Ambulance Service
Submitted on 10/09/2015 at 13:16
Published on Care Opinion at 13:29


picture of Martin Esposito

Hi Frostbite287

I was extremely sorry to hear about your mother’s recent experience with our Patient Transport Service. I completely agree with you that we should not be treating elderly people like that and in fact, would extend that to everyone we come into contact with as part of our work within the ambulance service.

An empathic, person-centred and positive approach to communicating with patients is such a simple but extremely important skill. I am not sure that I will be able to reassure you but I would like you to know that we do appreciate its importance and it is so disappointing when we let ourselves and our patients down

Please can I ask you to pass on my sincere apologies to your mother for the way in which she was treated and spoken to by the ambulance crew.

I would like to look into this further and feedback to your concerns to the ambulance crew involved. However, I would need some more details.If you would be able to provide me with more information you can contact me on 0131 314 0003 or at martiesposito@nhs.net

Thank you so much for sharing your mother’s experience.

Take care

Martin.

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Response from Eunice Goodwin, Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team, NHS Ayrshire and Arran 8 years ago
Eunice Goodwin
Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team,
NHS Ayrshire and Arran

I respond initially to most of the posts and ensure they are passed to the appropriate team whether they are compliments, observations or grumbles. It is important to make sure all issues are addressed and I try to encourage that to happen for all the posts as required.

Submitted on 10/09/2015 at 17:13
Published on Care Opinion on 11/09/2015 at 09:25


picture of Eunice Goodwin

Hi Frostbite287,

I would also like to add that I agree with everything Martin has said and I am sorry your mother had such a difficult time. I hope she feels better about it now.
best wishes,
Eunice

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