Care Opinion

Brilliant nurses, but systems don’t always work

Posted By Flowerlovet

"Brilliant nurses, but systems don’t always work"

About: Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford) / Cancer Services

(as a service user),

I have been receiving excellent care and treatment at Cherry Brook. But the systems didn’t work.

Firstly, there was a problem producing the chemotherapy infusions. This meant appointments were delayed but I only found out why later. My appointment was delayed and after one hour and a half no one had told me why.

I only found out why because I saw a nurse I knew from another area in the hospital and asked what was going on. 

It seems to me that someone needed to tell us there were delays in the pharmacy. The receptionists could easily have done this when we checked in . Another way to give info would be to use the screens in the waiting area. Currently banal day time TV is shown - you can’t really hear the sound. I have never seen anyone watching so why not make better use of the screens for info? It would probably save money too. 

I was eventually treated two hours late. I spent 7 hours in hospital that day and was exhausted by the end! 

The nurses do not have fixed lunch times. I realise there are different staff each day and different shifts but the ad hoc system means some don’t eat until 4-ish and when they go, everyone has to cover their patients. This didn’t work for me as well as my dose of one drug was increased from previous week and the nurse didn’t know why. My consultant told me how this is calculated the next day . I was so stressed I almost stopped my treatment. I prefer to have nurses I have met before as they know my treatment and make me feel reassured that I am not just a number. 

I also think I would prefer to have follow up meetings with consultants as I’m being treated. This would cut costs of phone calls for the hospital as they are simply walking to another area of the hospital. Seeing a consultant also helps to personalise the experience and certainly makes me feel more supported. It would also help nurses clarify treatments with doctors, linking the people in the chain rather than separating them. 

This unit is generally fantastic, but on that day a few things made it 7 very stressful hours. 

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Responses

Response from Clare Rowley, Clinical Matron (Eastern Services), Cancer Services (Eastern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 3 months ago
We are preparing to make a change
Clare Rowley
Clinical Matron (Eastern Services), Cancer Services (Eastern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 06/12/2024 at 15:03
Published on Care Opinion at 15:08

Hi Flowerlovet

Thank you for taking the time to share you experiences and concerns with us regarding your treatment on Cherrybrook.

I'm glad that you feel that you have received excellent care and treatment and I will share your feedback with the team.

I'm sorry that you weren't kept informed of any treatment delays when you attended for chemotherapy. When we are made aware of delays in treatment being delivered from our pharmacy colleagues we endeavour to share this information with our patients waiting in the reception area as well as our admin team on the reception desk. I'm sorry that this wasn't the case on the day you attended.

Use of the television screens to share information is a great idea and one that we have requested in the past but it wasn't possible to achieve at the time. I will however explore this opportunity again.

The nurses are allocated a lunch break and we have reduced appointments over the lunchtime period to support nurses to get a break. On the days where there are delays are experienced the nurses will prioritise patient treatments over their lunch breaks. We do however recognise the importance of staff getting their breaks so will continue to work with the senior team to ensure that this happens in a timely way.

Unfortunately we are unable to guarantee that you will be treated by the same nurse on each visit. We regularly treat 50 - 60 patients each day on Cherrybrook and require our nurses to work in teams to ensure that all treatments are given within our opening times. I'm sorry that you felt there was a lack of consistency, we encourage our nurses to handover to a colleague before they go for their break so that important information is shared.

You will be seen by your Consultant on most visits to clinic however there may be times when there is a Registrar working alongside the Consultants in clinic.

I'm sorry that this appointment caused you undue stress and anxiety. I have shared this with the Cherrybrook team and we have identified some ways in which to improve communication.

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Response from Clare Rowley, Clinical Matron (Eastern Services), Cancer Services (Eastern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 2 months ago
We have made a change
Clare Rowley
Clinical Matron (Eastern Services), Cancer Services (Eastern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 06/01/2025 at 15:38
Published on Care Opinion at 15:40

Hi Flowerlovet

Following your feedback we have purchased a new smart TV for the Oncology reception area which will allow us to link the screen to a computer and then post important information and updates to patients in the waiting area.

Many thanks for your helpful suggestion. We're hopeful that this will help improve communication and keep our patients informed of any delays.

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