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December 8, 2006

News from the Cutting Edge

Being hip on the web ain't easy for organisations
It just isn't easy for big NHS organisations that - let's face it - have been used to handling feedback on their own terms, to 'get' how to respond on the web.
This posting is pretty critical of the Hallamshire Hospital:
".. my care was very poor. The communication was very poor from many of the nurses who looked after me. I was very anxious and the poor communication made this worse.... The post operative nursing care that I recieved was virtually non-existant.I lost over 8lbs in weight, through being nil by mouth for 20hrs, and having little appetite for 4 days post operation.
So even though they do not subscribe to Patient Opinion, we offered the Trust a chance to respond and this is what they said:
"Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust take any concerns expressed by patients very seriously and would like to apologise for the poor experience described in this case. The Lead Nurse and Matron responsible for ward I2 are implementing a number of actions in response to the concerns raised."
This kind of response is the norm for Trusts when they first start responding on Patient Opinion - whilst the motive and the actions are sincere (I'm sure that the Trusts really is trying to improve services on the ward) the tone of the posting fails to do justice to their efforts and may not give the person who posted it, or any member of the public reading it, much confidence that anything is going to improve. It is just so easy for this organisational bureaucrat-ease not to mean anything much outside the NHS laager.
I guess what is needed is for organisations to relax a bit. Hard I know in such a litiginous age. Rather than just slouching around and being negative we tried to put together an alternative response.
"Thanks for taking the time to post on Patient Opinion. It sounds like you had a really tough stay and that at times we didn't help much! I've taken your comments to the ward meeting - what you say about patients loosing weight really struck a chord with the staff as we all know how important good nutrition is to getting better. And of course they also know just how easy it can be not to want to eat properly when you're feeling poorly. As a result they decided to ...."
Any better? Any legal reasons why a Trust couldnt respond like this?

Posted by Paul at December 8, 2006 5:34 PM