Well Done Accy Vic

slinky · 05-02-2005, 00:44

Can i just say that tonight I had to escort a elderly lady to ACCRINGTON VICTORIA and usually I have to take them to BRI, which giving credit where crdit is due they do a fantastic job considering the amount of pressure they are under, but today at accy vic the staff were soooooo helpful and it really was a pleasure to be there (under the curcumstances) ok the doctor was'nt in A&E til 6pm and we had to wait from 5pm but like I said the staff were brilliant WELL DONE ACCY VIC for continuous care and attention to your patients.

WillowTheWhisp · 05-02-2005, 09:11

I didn't know they still had an A&E at Accy Vic. It's a pity that local hospitals are being wound down in favour of centralising. I may be wrong but I feel it makes a difference to a patient's condition if they have to travel further before being able to be treated.

slinky · 05-02-2005, 12:36

I agree willow. Usually when we take a elderly residant to hospital they always take us to BRI and like I said they do a fantastic job, but the wait for treatment is LONGGGGGG!! and that is just waiting to go to Xray. I think the less serious should be dealt with at AAccy vic then BRI could be used for the more serious injuries this would cut waiting time, like I said they did a fantastic job at Accy vic and some times I think the little hospitals get forgot, when they do an equally brilliant job.

Margaret Pilkington · 05-02-2005, 15:15

It is always good to hear something positive about local services. Slinky, may I suggest that you write and let AVH know of your positive experience......it lets the staff know that they are valued and appreciated.

-pixie · 05-02-2005, 18:17

They have always been really good with me and the baby at Accy Vic - even though I was being a paranoid new mother and had taken him up for something minor.

vorlon24 · 06-02-2005, 19:33

I think it's better to take a baby with something minor, than ignore it and allow it to become something major

Doug · 07-02-2005, 01:09

Good for you slinky...it's nice to see people giving the NHS credit where it’s due. So often we’re quick to criticise the NHS for short falls in the system and fail to recognise how hard the people in our hospital work. Recently a close friend of mine underwent a major operation for bowel cancer at Blackpool Vic. She was petrified that she wouldn’t get off the table alive, not only has she survived to op but she’s on her way back to full health thanks to the doctors and nurses who continually work short staffed and chronically under funded…..

slinky · 07-02-2005, 01:45

This is fantastic news doug, your right NHS do a fantastic job and it really gets up my nose when I see all the signs warning of abuse to staff WHY?? but for these people alot more lives would be lost.

WillowTheWhisp · 07-02-2005, 08:00

I think most of us appreciate the hard work done by the hospital staff and other workers in the NHS. The complaints are usually against the system itself of which they also are victims. Unfortunately when people are faced with a failing system it's those in the front line who come under attack, even though they more often than not don't deserve it.

This is why there are those signs warning about abuse towards staff. It used to amaze me to think that anyone would abuse doctors or nurses or even the reception staff but these days I can understand the sense of frustration with the system that leads people to such acts.

For example, at the doctors' surgery where I am registered there are several doctors and it's pot luck who you get to see. That doesn't bother me in itself because all the case notes are computerised. The problems begin when you actually want to see a doctor. You can't make an appointment in advance. You either have to be there at 8:30am and hope you'll get one that day, or phone up at 8:30am and hope you get through.

I have young children and I need to be here at home to see them off to school so I can't be down there for 8:30, I have to ring up............and of course it's engaged. So I hang up and try again, and it's engaged, so I hang up and try again... etc etc. Can't do ring back because that isn't allowed. When I finally get through I am told that all appointments have been taken for that day and to try again tomorrow. Occasionally I can see a nurse as an alternative, who more often than not then refers patients to the doctor who they wanted to see in the first place but couldn't.

Last week I actually had an appointment with a doctor because it was a "repeat appointment" which the doctor himself had requested but then he asked me to take some bumph round to the nurse for blood tests. That couldn't be done because the nurse was too busy so the receptionist asked me to come back the following day. I told her that I was hoping to come down with my daughter the following day if I could get an appointment for her and she said I should come along with her. So far so good.

The next day I phoned and went through all the palaver until we got to the appoinment with the nurse stage and managed to get one for daughter. Off we went at the allotted time (11am or thereabouts) and the nurse referred her to the doctor who then saw her. However, when I presented my blood test bumph (different receptionist this time) I was told I should have made an appointment. I told her that I'd been told just to come down with my daughter, but no, I needed an appointment. Fortunately I was able to make one for 12:30 so by the time we'd seen the doctor there wasn't a great deal of time to kill before I got in for my blood test which took all of five minutes.

Meanwhile there was a woman at the reception desk becoming very frustrated that she wasn't able to see a doctor or a nurse and had to come back and try again the next day. She obviously hadn't been up against the system before.

I can understand her frustration and I can see how this leads some people to violent reactions. I'm not saying that the violence is right, I'm just saying I can see where it comes from, especially if someone in the family is ill and they are worried about them.

All this isn't because the doctors, nurses, receptionsists etc want to make life difficult for patients. It's because they are trying to juggle too many patients into too little time. They have tried out different systems and none of them work ideally.

Margaret Pilkington · 07-02-2005, 14:35

I know the practice that you are talking about Willow......I am also registered with them. I have to be seriously ill before I will even take on that system. Maybe it will all change when we get the new all singing all dancing Health Centre!