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

My dads admission to the QEU hospital.

Posted By triciag2401

"My dads admission to the QEU hospital."

About: Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Glasgow / General medicine (Wards 5d)

(as a relative),

He was admitted by ambulance via his GP from the care home he lives in.

He was acutely unwell with abdominal pain, incontinent, vomiting, unable to mobilise and difficulty rousing him.

His admission into acute receiving went smoothly with no waiting time to get a cubicle.

All tests were done quickly with no waiting time and he was moved that evening to ARU 5. I was kept very well informed throughout his initial time in ARU from the medical and nursing staff.

Unfortunately he fell out of bed whilst in ARU 5 but it is obviously impossible for the nursing staff to watch patients all the time given that all the rooms are single rooms.

I feel that the single rooms are a major negative design point more particularly for the elderly patients who may feel very isolated.

My father especially as he has dementia found it very isolating and would have benefitted greatly from being in a 4 bedded room.

He was moved to ward 8a where he was extremely well cared for by the medicial staff and nurses. He was always clean and shaved and his room was spotless. I was always able to speak to staff on the phone and they were well informed about the current state of my dad.

The only area of the hospital that was particularly dirty was the main corridor from the ARU back door through to the atrium. On one occasion I counted 13 cigarette butts on the floor and various dried in spillages. Also I thought the fact that patients openly smoke at that door is totally unacceptable.

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

Responses

Response from Lorna Fairlie, Patient Experience, Public Involvement Project Manager, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 8 years ago
Lorna Fairlie
Patient Experience, Public Involvement Project Manager,
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

I work in a small team in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde which seeks to involve patients and carers in the work of the NHS. The biggest part of my role is in managing feedback projects across the Board area, one of which is Patient Opinion. It is my job to give our patients and carers the opportunity to give us feedback, and to make sure that this is passed to the right people to help us improve the services we provide.

Submitted on 30/12/2015 at 14:52
Published on Care Opinion at 15:36

Dear triciag2401,

Thank you for taking the time to give such a detailed account of the various areas your Dad was treated in throughout his stay at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

I am glad that he was seen quickly and that all tests were carried out efficiently in the Acute Assessment Unit, but I am really sorry to hear that he fell while in ARU5 - you are right that the single rooms mean having to adapt to new ways of working for our staff, and I will ask my colleagues in this department to give us some more information about what they are doing to try to prevent such falls happening as much as possible.

I'll also pass on your kind comments to the team in ward 8A - I know they will be pleased that you have given them such positive feedback and to know that this made a difference to you.

With regards to the issues you highlighted about cleanliness in the main areas of the hospital, I will make sure that these are fed back to Facilities team at the hospital. I know that they work hard to maintain a high level of cleanliness in these areas (as they do in the wards), however we know that there can be challenges in this in areas with such a high number of people coming through these areas. Smoking is certainly one of the biggest challenges we have in this area, and there are a number of projects ongoing to try to reduce the number of people smoking at entrances to our hospitals, to make this the smoke free environment that we strive for.

I hope that your Dad is doing well now, and is either well enough to be home now, or very close to it.

Best Wishes,

Lorna

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Response from NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde 8 years ago
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde

Submitted on 30/12/2015 at 15:46
Published on Care Opinion at 17:03

In addition to Lorna's comments, we have some specific comments from the Lead Nurse, Joan Edge.

Many thanks for your feedback in relation to your fathers care on ward 8a, it is great to hear that you were very happy with his care and that communication with staff was good. We very much appreciate the time you have taken to provide this feedback which the team within 8a are delighted to hear. I will ensure this is shared widely with the multidisciplinary team.

Thank you

Joan

jan.edge@ggc.scot.nhs.uk

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Response from Ian Reeves, Consultant Physician, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde 8 years ago
Ian Reeves
Consultant Physician,
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde

I'm one of the doctors in the medicine for the elderly dept. i.reeves@nhs.net

Submitted on 30/12/2015 at 20:36
Published on Care Opinion on 31/12/2015 at 11:01

picture of Ian Reeves

oops - that name in the post above should be Joan Edge, human keyboard error. Sorry for any confusion.

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k