You Said, We Did

March 2023

You Said

• My physiotherapist was very patient and listened to my needs and worked with me. The only issue, I have is the waiting time for being able to see an NHS physiotherapist, in that time of waiting 6 months, I had to seek private services which were costly and not consistent service. 

We Did

• Worked with Admin teams to reduce the waiting list by ensuring all new patient slots are filled if patients have cancelled.
• Temporary staff for 8 weeks to reduce waiting lists.
• Assistant physiotherapist employed to take some patients to free slots for New patients.

• Patients reminded about appointments via text system and informed of discharge if cancel consecutive appointments.

You Said

• Speaking to the therapy team directly is difficult.
• Text reminder services could be clearer and say if the appointment is face to face and who it is with. This is helpful if you are seeing more than one medic.

We Did

• Regular discussions with Patient hub regarding changes to text systems.
• Discussions ongoing regarding communication avenues.

You Said

• …. I can only praise the service I have received. There is nothing I can think of which could be improved except perhaps for the distraction of only having curtains between the bays. It would be perfect if there were treatment rooms available

We Did

• Acquired regular use of a side room and have discussed reconfiguring curtains with managers and hospital estates teams.

You Said

• …. I can only praise the service I have received. There is nothing I can think of which could be improved except perhaps for the distraction of only having curtains between the bays. It would be perfect if there were treatment rooms available

We Did

• Acquired regular use of a side room and have discussed reconfiguring curtains with managers and hospital estates teams.

October 2023

You said

• I would suggest that a meal is offered once admitted to hospital if needed to the parent. I had been up all night in a&e then finally admitted to the ward at 2pm but had no food and was unable to leave my boy as he was only 4 and didnt want to be left – he was on oxygen so I couldnt take him with me.
• Only thing I didn’t like was that the parents who wasn’t breastfeeding wasn’t entitled to any food. Being in hospital for a number of days is expensive in parking etc, a couple of free meals would have been a nice touch.
• I was a breast feeding mum and beyond the odd cup of tea I was not offered food or water and was often in a situation caring for my daughter when I couldn’t access anything.

We Did

• Engagement has taken place with parents and children about the new hospital build to ascertain their priorities. We have been working with the charity ‘Millie Wright’ to address food poverty.
• The charity has been stocking parent kitchens with food to support families who would struggle to feed themselves whilst their children are in the care of the Trust.

August 2022

You Said

• You would like more information about what is available on the ward and be shown around the ward so that you know where the toilets are, where parents can go to eat or get a drink etc.

We Did

• We have developed a ward information leaflet for patients and families and provide a tour of the ward.

July 2023

You Said

• Lighting in the visitor’s area is very bright when spending a long time in the waiting room.

We Did

• With donated money from patients and relatives we have purchased new, low lighting and a lamp for the visitors waiting area.

You said

• Time passes slowly; more radios and televisions would help to pass the time.

We Did

• Through donations we have purchased radios and personal DVD players. Due to the equipment in ICU it is difficult to get a good reception through indoor aerials.

You said

• Why is my relative asleep after physio when we visit?

We Did

• Physiotherapy is an important part of rehabilitation but it is tiring for patients. We are piloting rest periods across most of our units to allow patients to rest

You Said

• There is nowhere in ICU to get a hot drink.

We Did

• We are in the process of buying a hot drinks machine. This will be funded through Patient / relative donations.

You Said

• Visiting time is quite restricted.

We Did

• Due to ward rounds, therapies and protected meal times visiting is restricted. Please discuss any problems with the nurse in charge.

April 2023

You Said

• The noise should be adjusted during the night, too noisy. The service is good because of the care and service received, very attentive. Fantastic care and staff. Only negative is trying to sleep as the equipment and machinery is so loud.

We Did

• We have introduced ‘Sharpsmart mats’ to put in the bottom of Sharpsmat waste disposal containers to reduce the noise when an item is deposited. 

April 2023

You said

• Would be better if l could sleep, without the light on.

We Did

• We have introduced night lights that can be used instead of the main full lights to make it more relaxing for patients at night.

April 2022

You Said

• I was kept informed of what was happening and when. Everyone I came into contact with was very helpful. The only issue I had was when queuing outside in the rain and cold to be seen by the reception, I wasnt well at all and it really didnt help.
• A chair and to be better cover would have been helpful. Although I understand they system due to Covid. Long queues getting into registration in the winder cold. Obviously a problem with covid but 45 minutes standing in the cold already feeling rubbish was tough.

We Did

• A new tent has been installed at our Reception entrance to provide cover for patients who are waiting outside.

December 2024

You Said

An individual in a wheelchair must accept that not all buildings are wheelchair friendly, but we are talking about a vascular ward that has major amputations with numerous wheelchair users. Very disappointing to discover that in ALL the bathrooms on the ward, not ONE had a mirror at sink/chair level for me to have a shave. To be fair I was offered a vanity mirror however I wanted to maintain my dignity and independence and use the bathroom facilities for personal care which included having a shave.

We did

We have accessible washrooms and appropriate signs to indicate their location. Our accessible washroom facilities include sufficient space for turning and transferring, grab bars and emergency call bells. Sinks, soap and paper towel dispensers are all at wheelchair accessible height. We have now addressed the issue experienced by our patient.

You said

I was already feeling vulnerable and scared facing major surgery and quickly ushered into a side room without warning, I had limited knowledge as to why I was being isolated other than having an infection. I felt confused, anxious and guilty, ‘wat is contagious, had I given this to my family’ the bed move happened late in the evening, regardless, it would have been courteous to have things explained to me rather than searching on ‘Dr Google’ to find out ‘WHAT, WHERE and WHY’

We did

Insulation/barrier nursing is one way of preventing the spread of infection from one person to another. Sometimes you may be isolated to help protect you while you are particularly vulnerable to picking up an infection. Isolation nursing means you may need to be nursed in a single room for a period of time. 

Our Infection Prevention Board will improve patient safety, patient/staff communication and patient satisfaction. Creating our new board effectively can make the patient feel more receptive to any medical advice making their hospital stay just that much easier.

August 2022

You Said

• I’m a regular attended in clinic and a patient on L15. They never fail to deliver good care. Some hiccups along the way on this admission with ‘am I going to theatre or not’. I was all set up to go then simply told I was going home which really confused me. An explanation was given by the doctor eventually and the nurses were apologetic for the mis-communication. The nurses were sincere. It was the communication that let them down.

We Did

• Sometimes planned operations have to be cancelled on the day or at very short notice. Our staff will do everything they can to avoid this as we know how upsetting this can be. Your operation will be rebooked as soon as possible. Effective communication between nurses and physicians is important for the safety and quality of patient care. We are working on identifying strategies that would improve communication between these two groups which will ultimately improve patient outcomes.

November 2023

You Said

• Service is mostly excellent but it would be nice to have some idea what might be happening to you that day. For instance a trip to x-ray is planned but often you don’t know until a porter arrives to collect you. The nurses do seem to know these things and seem to have a list for each patient. Things can change but just telling patients we’re planning this for today still means it could be excused if it doesn’t happen. That was the reason I got to told was to not say what

We Did

• We as the nursing team are spreading the word at Huddle and handover to give a little update and share expected events for patients. We will also encourage our Medical colleagues and Advanced Care Practitioners to share this information too as they often book the scan/tests.

You Said

• It was excellent service. I think the main issue is resource constraint worsened by strikes. It means no one can know when they may get an operation. It always feels uncertain as to when it may happen and subject to cancellation which is quite psychologically challenging.

We Did

• The strikes caused many anxieties and created delays for patients which as a nursing team we aimed to give advice and certainly relay difficulties experienced by patients during and after the strike days. Through these strikes support was given to the medical colleagues to allow them to stress the constraints on their role and highlight the concerns they have for their ability to provide high quality healthcare.

April 2022

You Said

• Communication needs improving, specially when patients are being moved. 

We Did

• Often we have an influx of patients which means we need to move patients to other wards. We now have a robust system in place for updating families and we make sure to communicate with them from the outset and to liaise with families more on admission.

October 2023

You Said

Disappointing for my husband to be turned away at the door – appointment letter ought to state that you have to be alone as documentation sent suggests that family can be with you.

We Did

We have listened to patient feedback regarding the admissions lounge, patients commented they would like a relative to stay with them whilst they are waiting to go to surgery to keep them company. We are now trialling a way to make this possible for patients.

October 2023

You Said

• Well looked after and kept informed. Ward very busy during the night making very difficult to sleep, but needs must!
• I was in for spinal surgery and spent a couple of nights where my sleep was disturbed by faulty equipment. Equipment needs updating, but great care from staff

• Staff all lovely and attentive, the only problem was I didn’t get any sleep at all. Care assistants excellent but couldn’t sleep due to lights being on. Nurse last night great.

We Did

• We have created a night time check list to ensure patients are provided with a healthy environment for sleep. The list includes dimming lights and turning off radios.

You Said

• The nurses were so caring, especially Pamela. I cant think of anything that could be better except more communication about treatment at evening visiting time when many of the doctors have left. Lack of communication with patient re updates

We Did

• Restarted and embeded a new ward round process in neurosurgery to improve the patient contact time and to embed better in-patient communication. Ward round checklist created and in place on neurosurgery wards. ACP team supporting this process.

December 2023

You said

• Was asked to arrive at 8am but it was 10.30 am when I was seen. So a lot of waiting around.

We Did

• We have carried out an audit to assess the factors influencing the first patient of the day. This will help us identify any common themes we can improve on as a department.

October 2023

You Said

• Brilliant care and surgery but reception should still be manned Daughter = lack of communication when no ward clerk, always happy to help. Not same without her. Left when no ward clerks here so unable to do

We Did

• We have worked on ensuring there is ward clerk cover on most wards, answering queries and answering the phones.

October 2023

You Said

• The staff were lovely and very helpful, what was disappointing is that 1 family member could not be there while waiting meaning patients have to wait outside the ward if partners are there. I get the ward is small, but the cubicle was big enough with a chair for 1 relative to wait with a patient. 

We Did

• We have listened to patient feedback regarding the admissions lounge, patients commented they would like a relative to stay with them whilst they are waiting to go to surgery to keep them company. We are now trialling a way to make this possible for patients.

November 2023

You Said

• Waited for a response from my call bell for a while on occasions.

We Did

• Recruitment completed and all staff vacancies on the ward are filled.

April 2023

You Said

• Good Care Noisy at night – Would have liked it to be quieter.

We Did

• We are educating staff on reducing noise at night.

January 2023

You Said

• “Have the loop system for those with hearing aids. It’s hard to hear the receptionist with the screens in place.”

We Did

• The loop system has been checked and new stickers placed. Screens have been removed. 

You Said

• “Is it possible to have volunteers to talk to people?”

We Did

• Now that we’re over the worst of the pandemic, we have requested for volunteers to return as soon as possible.

You Said

• “Find a way to make it easier for the hard of hearing who have trouble as a result of screens and masks.”

We Did

• We now have clear masks available for staff, so you can lip read if necessary.

You Said

• “Please include department full address & postcode on appt schedule for satnav reasons”

We Did

• This is now included in all appointment letters.

October 2023

You Said

• I was well looked after on ward 7 but very bored no tv or radio long days and even longer nights.
• Boring in the extreme. Improve: provide a daily visit of newspapers and sweets. Trouble sleeping, uncomfortable bed, television quality is poor, lack of activities available, wasn’t made aware of anything to do other than watch tv  

We Did

• Work has taken place with the support of Leeds Hospital Charity to improve activities and the hospital environment. For example artwork on ceilings, setting up Doris’s Diner on J15 and the Social Hub on J34. 

October 2023

You Said

• The Reception desk was not manned when I arrived and there was no intercom system to get into the building. 

We Did

• We are putting systems in place to ensure that there is always a member of staff in Reception.

You Said

• You asked us not to ring you with news when you’re at work or on holiday.

We Did

• We will do our best to consider any up and coming commitments so we can speak to you at a convenient time.

You Said

• We would have liked some drinks and snacks while at the hospital but the café was closed and there were no facilities in the Screening Unit either. We were told this was mainly because of Covid restrictions but it didn’t help when we’d come a distance and were there for a few hours.

We Did

• We have ordered individual, single-use tea, coffee, milk and biscuits so that we can provide refreshments in a safe way for ladies visiting the unit. 

You Said

• My partner wanted to be with me and have the opportunity to speak to the Dr so they could understand what had been said.

We Did

• We will always do our best to listen to your wishes and involve your partner whenever we can. When we cannot include your family we will explain the reasons why and do our best to support/inform them. 

You Said

• The map sent with my recall  letter wasn’t very clear as to where the car parking area was situated. I ended up parking at the back of the hospital as indicated on the letter which was quite a walk. I then found there was a car park near to your unit.

We Did

• We reviewed the map that is sent out to ladies and realised that the car parking area close to our unit wasn’t clearly marked. We have since highlighted this on the map to make it easier for ladies to identify.

You Said

• I received a text message appointment reminder before getting my letter through the post. This made me really panicky about the reason I was being called back to clinic. Then it was the weekend and I couldn’t speak to anyone for a couple of days.

We Did

• We never want to cause any additional stress while inviting your for your hospital review. We are taking all possible measures to ensure that text messages are only forwarded to ladies who have received their letters. We welcome your input if you have any concerns, comments or feedback

You Said

• I was told I should ideally attend alone and avoid bringing a friend or relative to the appointment. The staff were lovely but I would have preferred to have someone with me. 

We Did

• We understand that ladies often prefer to have someone with them when attending hospital for tests. We are doing our very best to listen to your concerns and ensure you feel supported during your visit to the unit. Where there are still some restrictions in place with limited numbers allowed in the consulting rooms, the nurses are always happy to summarise with your family present towards the end of your visit. If you have any concerns or questions, just ask.