"Unreasonable wait for pharmacy meds"

About: Crosshouse Hospital Crosshouse Hospital Kilmarnock KA2 0BE

Posted by pharm576 (as a carer), 7 years ago

My husband was discharged from ward 5A. He was sent to the Discharge lounge as his bed was needed (we have no problem with that). However, as he has serious spine pain and also suffers from panic attacks due to being bipolar, he found sitting in the lounge difficult. The staff were made aware of this and tried to expedite his meds from the pharmacy - no joy.
I arrived early afternoon and remonstrated (politely I hope) with the staff, who were very sympathetic, but still no meds. I took my husband out to the car where he was a little more comfortable, and returned to the lounge to wait. I also have pain issues with sitting (and standing) so wasn't exactly comfortable. Eventually the meds arrived at almost 4 hours later
There were other patients in the lounge who had waited for hours, including one who had a 2-year-old toddler waiting for her.
I couldn't reasonably go home and return to fetch the meds, as was suggested, as it is a one hour return trip by car and I was already hurting.
Surely once the prescribing doctor should write up the meds directly onto computer and the pharmacy should have enough staff to then be able to make up the prescription reasonably quickly. We were told that t his area is being "looked at", but this is not a new problem.
On the plus side, my husband says that the staff in the CAU and ward 5A were excellent, care appears to have improved, and the food was very good.

More about:

Do you have a similar story to tell?

Responses

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 22/09/2016 at 11:15

Published on Care Opinion at 11:17

Dear pharm576,
I am so sorry, what a stressful and painful day for you both.
It is very helpful to hear your experience because it supports the issue we do already know about and are indeed working to improve. I would like to reassure you that this is high on the agenda and while this certainly does not help you at this point, nor does it negate your experience in any way, we will improve this area. I would ask you to be patient with us but in the meantime, we welcome other stories of the same ilk. Each story has individual facets which will further inform us about the issue.
I have passed this on to the relevant management and teams for their reflection.
Thank you for this frank story and I hope you have both recovered from your experience.
Kind regards,
Eunice

{{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Was this response helpful? Yes | No
Thank you for your feedback.
See more responses from Eunice Goodwin

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 26/09/2016 at 09:12

Published on Care Opinion at 12:00

Dear pharm576,
I have been asked if you would help us to look into this specific event. I wonder if I can persuade you to contact me by email Eunice.goodwin@aapct.scot.nhs.uk or phone on 01563 826222 as we need some details to do so.
kind regards,
Eunice

{{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Was this response helpful? Yes | No
Thank you for your feedback.
See more responses from Eunice Goodwin

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 26/09/2016 at 14:10

Published on Care Opinion at 16:25

Dear pharm576,
Thank you so much for contacting me. From our conversation, I understand that you don't need us to investigate the specifics of this individual event but want to be assured that we are addressing the medication and discharge process in order to streamline it. I will pass the outline of our conversation to the service to take on board.
Thank you for agreeing that we could run thoughts on this topic past you, it sounds like your past experience would be very helpful. I will let the managers know the content of our call.
I hope both you and your husband's health improves and again, thank you for your story.
Best wishes,
Eunice

{{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Was this response helpful? Yes | No
Thank you for your feedback.
See more responses from Eunice Goodwin

Update posted by pharm576 (a carer) 7 years ago

Your prompt replies are appreciatedl

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 26/09/2016 at 17:23

Published on Care Opinion at 17:27

Thank you
Eunice

{{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Was this response helpful? Yes | No
Thank you for your feedback.
See more responses from Eunice Goodwin

Navigation
Shortcut Help	?
Go to Home	g + h
Go to Tell Your Story	g + t
Go to About Us	g + a

Opinions
Next Response	j
Previous Response	k