Share review of Queen Alexandra Hospital

Queen Alexandra Hospital 2018-07-07 Person 4 5 0

I went in for an iron infusion. My appointment was tat 3pm but I wasn't seen until 5.15 for the treatment. Because it took so long to be seen my friend who'd accompanied me for the visit had to return to work. I do not like any procedures and by the time I was seen I was in tears very nervous and upset. The nurses were amazing and though the procedure- I know small by comparison to many - was unpleasant I knew I had been treated with the best of care. Waiting 1.25 hours for it hadn't helped but I'm philosophical about that as it just got me to face the uncomfortableness I was feeling about the whole procedure. The nurses were amazing and that negates the time waited. As I understood the situation it seems stress is created by the system being far more optimistic than reality can allow: putting appointment times in a window that is far too tight to be fulfilled - this creates stress in the staff who fear angry patients. I expect there to be a lot of angry or upset patients as the procedures aren't pleasant and there is a lot of fear and emotions around them. This sets up both staff and patient to be less able to support/receive support and I would say needs addressing. Let's get honest about wait times and the staff stay on until the last patient leaves which is well past 5pm. Why not be honest about this and accommodate later appointments. I don't know the figures enough - perhaps there are days when people are seen on time but I suspect not! It's very easy for staff to go into process mode and try to get people seen quickly but then, under stress, forget they are people - this is why the staff introducing themselves through their first name is important - it reminds both parties we are humans and here to relate and support each other as such. I come to QA a lot and really rate it as a hospital - any time I look a little lost a staff member or volunteer will ask me if I'm ok. I hate hospitals - so much distress and pain goes on in them it's hard to acknowledge - but these touches really make a difference. So this is fantastic. To me it's about really supporting staff as people just as important as patients. This will equate to staff caring for patients with a quality of care that really makes a difference. People go into these roles because they care deeply about people - it's then the systems that make it hard for them to do so and I hope that QA recognises it's not just about making demands on staff without a genuine level of support there for them to respond to these demands.