Hinchingbrooke Hospital

Hinchingbrooke Hospital 2020-10-04 Person 1 5 0

My mother is expected to ring a help button even though she has had a stroke and can't press a button. she had soiled herself before I arrived and if I hadn't mentioned it nothing would have happened to help. i will get angry next time. the ambulance crew got it badly wrong. she should have gone to Addenbrook not Hinchingbrooke because she had a stroke. the crew thought she had an acute urinary tract infection. More time was wasted by an A&E triage and it took 7 hrs from pick up to being placed in ward. CT scan the following morning. with a 4hr window for best stroke outcomes I can assume my mother will have a sub optimal outcome. if NHS is more concerned about Covid than anything else then get tests that suit. you should be running LAMP 30min PCR tests not waiting a day for a result. So apart from poor diagnosis, process and care levels it's pretty good. She can't feed herself so I expect she will not eat either.

Hinchingbrooke Hospital 2020-07-20 Person 2 5 0

Two admissions later we are non the wiser as to what is actually wrong with my mother. A vague bit of information shared today when I finally managed to get through to staff - on antibiotics, although no idea what is infected and suspected constipation although unsure about that too. As she is being discharged today staff did not feel the need to discuss further despite her admission being almost a week long. Suggestions on how to improve care: Letting NOK or nearest relative know when the patient is admitted and having some idea of why the patient has received whatever treatment they have received. If there is communication with another hospital - what that is about too. There is likely to be another admission as whatever is the cause has not been found. I just hope it is before it is too late and I do not get 'that' phone call.

Hinchingbrooke Hospital 2020-07-15 Person 5 5 0

Writing on behalf of my mother, who suffers from memory loss and mobility issues and who has been shielding for some months now, it was fantastic that I was allowed to be with her and I would like to thank you for arranging this. My mother forgot her allergy to penicillin and also forgot that she has a shunt due to a brain tumour, which could have been problematic if I had not been there. The staff were all lovely, helpful and friendly. If I had to suggest any way to improve things, it would have been nice to have been given an update onTiming during our hour and a half wait, but this is only a suggestion. Everyone was lovely.

Hinchingbrooke Hospital 2020-06-22 Person 2 5 0

I am writing this on behalf of my mum who has been in and out of Hinchingbrooke hospital a number of times since May last year. At first it was thought she may have gastroenteritis before staff found a blood clot in her leg in October time, she was also told she had other issues with her blood vessels but her body was 'fixing itself'. She continued to be unwell and had several other admissions. resulting in a referral to cardio vascular at Addenbrookes. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago she phoned herself an ambulance because she felt so unwell. Paramedics were dismissive as soon as she told them she has mental health issues, commenting on how little food she has in her fridge and telling her to 'calm down'. As it happens she has several issues with her arteries and was lucky not to have a heart attack. On top of this apparently staff no longer inform the next of kin if their loved one has been admitted into hospital basically assuming they have done it themselves unless they are in a coma or dead. What about if their phone is not charged? Or they have not even picked it up? Which is very unhelpful when you work for the NHS yourself and live a couple of hours away. Having lived in Huntingdon as a family for a long time, my siblings were born there and we have all received treatment there in the 1990s. What has happened since then who knows. Wards are clean and beautiful but with barely enough staff to run them. Treating symptoms barely doing a thing about the underlying cause, we are lucky that my mum did not die. Why not transfer to Addenbrookes for treatment? Why not do what say you are going to do? Very disappointing.

Hinchingbrooke Hospital 2020-05-01 Person 5 5 0

I am giving feedback on behalf of my mother who was brought in with a suspected chest infection and tested positive for Covid-19. Throughout her stay she was treated by the doctors and nurses with the utmost professionalism, care and kindness, beginning with treatment attempting to save her life and ending with palliation. Throughout this difficult time, we were able to FaceTime and have emailed letters read to her, and on the last day of her life, although she may have been unaware, she was still comforted and her hand was constantly held by the wonderful nurses of Birch Ward. Thank you so much, everyone.

Hinchingbrooke Hospital 2020-02-18 Person 5 5 0

The staff were extremely accommodating to my very difficult and particular needs - an agoraphobic and severely emetophobic patient is not the easiest to put through a general anaesthetic! The team from pre-op through booking in/induction, anaesthesia, the surgery and aftercare were almost tailored to fit with what I needed to be able to cope mentally with the challenge of surgery. Particular credit must go to my surgeon, anaesthetist, and every nurse I encountered and who looked after me. I am extremely grateful to have received such good care and forever thankful for staff who helped make a necessary ordeal almost fun! Thank you, thank you.

Hinchingbrooke Hospital 2020-01-11 Person 4 5 0

The Staff on Birch Ward are fantastic, they make you feel that nothing is too much trouble for them even though they are on the go constantly. The food is great and is freshly cooked on site. Thanks for looking after me so well.

Hinchingbrooke Hospital 2019-12-05 Person 1 5 0

Rang 111 with chronic stomach pains, as I am during my early stages of pregnancy. As I didn't have a call back within a hour and was still in serious pain, I decided to attend A & E. Needing to check in, I arrived at the check in desk where I can hardly say I was greeted with respect. The receptionist was very blunt with everything she was asking and had no compassion when speaking to me. When I sat down in the waiting area, I had a view of the TV which stated the approximate waiting time for the initial assessment was 15 minutes which I must admit thought was brilliant as to how busy it was. However this wasn't the case. I waited over an hour an a half to be seen on Friday evening, behind individuals who had sprained wrists. I don't know what the process is as to who is seen quicker than others but clearly it doesn't seem there is a process in place for this. I feel the emergency I went in for was more urgent than a sprained wrist, but clearly I have come out questioning this as there were many people going in with this who were being assessed quicker than me. My concern is that individuals who need to be assessed and seen more urgent, aren't receiving this care. I was in absolute agony and this was seen by the staff members on reception and nothing was done, no pain relief offered, nothing. However a lady next to me lays down and gets immediate assistance and pain relief for her sprained wrist, not sure I quite understand the reasoning of this. Also when I was taken through to be seen by a doctor, he advised me there was nothing they could do and he wasn't from the area so couldn't assist me, very helpful! I wish there had been a leaflet in A & E for feedback as I would have done it that way, however there wasn't of course and that is why I am writing this way. I have noted a 2 stars for the cleanliness because there were empty coffee cups on the floor and dried spilt coffee on the floor, so had clearly been there for a while.

Hinchingbrooke Hospital 2019-11-02 Person 1 5 0

My mother was admitted to this ward on a Tuesday.she was accompanied by my brother who lives in The Midlands an I live in London but was on holiday in Yorkshire. My brother returned to visit on the Wednesday and was told she would be sent home the following day . We were not clear of her diagnosis and there were no medical personel to speak to. Because she was to go home Thursday my brother did not go to my mothers home to fetch toiletries or clothing for her and was assured that she would have hospital transport arranged. On Thursday I managed to get through after constantly ringing the ward at 4 o’clock and spoke to a staff nurse who assured me that my mother was being discharged they were arranging transport and they just needed to contact the carers who look after my mother to ensure her care package restarted at home. This turned out to be a lie as it became clear that mum was not being discharged that day even though she was medically fit to go home. She had to spend an additional night in hospital. The next day both my brother and I spent the whole day trying to contact the ward. I contacted her care team who informed me they had not been contacted by the hospital discharge team. My brother managed to speak to discharge team who had not been informed she was fit for discharge the previous day. Then in dispair we contacted PALS. They work tirelessly to try and help they could get no reply from the ward in the end after constant phone calls I managed to get through to be told she was fit for discharge and arrangements were being made. Again not true my brother was told on the only occasion that he got through that they had just spoken to me and not to ring again. I checked with the care team they still had not heard from the discharge team so we’re not prepared to recommence her care package as they did not know if she needed further medications. By this time it was 3 in the afternoon we were on the verge of driving to get her out rather than have her spend all weekend in hospital for no reason other than no one on the ward had contacted the discharge team. PALs in the end got the social worker to walk to the ward to find out what was going on, if the discharge team were contacted and arranging social care and ambulance transport home. PALs and the discharge team were brilliant but this wardits staff and the management of it are shambolic. We had to fight for information and then staff lied about what was going on when you could eventually get through. I believe my mother would have spent the weekend there if we had not fought to get her home. This begs the question what happens to patients with no voice?the hospital complaints procedure is shsmbolic. PALs is great but if you can’t get through the advice line states immediate issues should be addressed by contacting the ward. Fat chance if no one picks the phone up. No consideration is given to keep relatives informed when they do not live locally and have no way of contacting the ward. This all occurred on the week ending Friday 27th September when no ward sister or deputy ward sister could be contacted to resolve this situation by PALs in the hospital let alone us bh phone. PALs tried to tell us that part of problem was staff shortages but then if that was the case that ward should have been shut as it was clearly unfit and unsafe to remain open. This hospital needs to review its immediate complaints procedure because if no one on the ward answers the phone even to internal calls there is no way of resolution. Mum finally got home in late afternoon thanks to social worker PALs and ambulance staff. We still don’t know what her diagnosis was or why she was given the treatment she had.

Hinchingbrooke Hospital 2019-10-04 Person 1 5 0

My family member was transferred to this Ward from another area of the hospital. I was astonished at the attitude of the nurses receiving new patients from other wards. On arrival there was obviously hostility to the nurses transferring these patients, which led to a very distressing and unpleasant experience for the patients. These issues need to be resolved between staff and not take place in front of patients! An example of poor patient care, and one I hope never to witness again.