Kings College Hospital - going to the dogs?

[louisiana]

My recent encounters with KCH have not been good.

I've been - in the last six weeks - for an appointment in audiology. *Not* with Choose and Book. KCH got my address completely wrong (so sent my appointment to an incorrect address, where I have never lived, which they had made up or copied from someone else). The address given by my GP to them was correct. And then they complained to my GP that I hadn't turned up for an appointment (because I'd never received the letter with the appointment). Which I only found out next time I visited my GP. And then they - incorrectly - blamed my GP. The audiologist was perfectly nice and very professional during the appointment we finally managed to put together... I spent some time making sure different clinics did not hold this rogue address, by phone.

Then take this morning. An appointment in one of the opthalmology clinics. The appointment was made by Choose and Book (I had no choice). Choose and Book could not handle an online appointment (this was in November, may have changed by now?), so I had to call by phone to get it. I phoned KCH opthalmology. Fine.

I turned up this morning, and found out after asking some questions that they had a GP record for me in a different city, some nine years out of date (and clearly a different record to that held by audiology). If a GP has requested an appointment with opthalmology, surely the opthalmology clinic must know who that GP is? Perhaps there is no record provided from the GP to the hospital via Choose and Book, though if that is the case it seems to be a crappy system by definition.

Then it emerged that I hadn't received any of the - as it turned out - *essential* info about the appointment (and what they'd be putting in my eyes and how this would affect my vision for the day). I only found out when I arrived at the clinic that this info had been sent/should have been sent. Whoever had made my booking by phone at KCH had either sent nothing out, or had sent it to the wrong address (as before). Or indeed RM had not delivered it.

The receptionist at the clinic was clearly harrassed when I arrived, but proved to be efficient and friendly when the gale blew over (lots of patients, no computer access, when I arrived). A nurse doing a sight test (before seeing the doctor) spent most of the time I was with her chatting to some mate on her mobile. Oh, and she gave me a glaucoma booklet without any kind of explanation whatsover. ("Oh, we give this to everybody", she said, when I questioned this.) I don't believe I have glaucoma.

The person who did my visual field test was fine.

And then on to the opthalmologist. What a 'mare. Treated me like an imbecile. I'd clearly received a letter, according to her, as I was there. She hadn't heard of Choose and Book (by phone), and didn't seem bothered in finding out now. I must be lying or stupid, was the tenor of her words. But she couldn't care less, "It's nothing to do with me!", she shouted at close quarters. Imagine somebody with their fingers stuck in their ears going "Ooooooo, I can't hear you..." in a loud voice, and you get the measure of the encounter. (A comparison: I recently went to an appointment at Moorfields eye hospital, and there could not have been a greater chasm between the two opthalmologists.) I don't know if she behaves the same way to all patients, but if she was my employee and behaved in such a way she'd be out of the door pronto.

KCH has some good people working in it, but it strikes me as a dysfunctional organisation with some appalling admin systems and with some very jaded employees who in the worst cases seem to have little regard for patients.

[LuvPeckham]

Afternoon louisiana (and Everyone)

I actually spent the whole of yesterday in Kings whilst my Mum waited to go down for an operation, Minor problems with lack of beds (recent Flu outbreak and icy conditions have increased bed utilisation) and as a result we were moved from one ward to another and stuck in the day room.

At 4pm we were told that the operation has been postponed until today (she went down at midday) and that a bed was available in the first ward that we went to.

I have nothing but admiration for the nursing staff that we encountered yesterday, all of them made sure that both of us were comfortable, that she wanted for nothing (except food as she was nil by mouth) and that despite the fact we were stuck in a day room that we were okay. A special note goes to the porters (Mark and his mate) who cracked us up when they moved her to her awrd yesterday afternoon and even popped back to see her in the evening to make sure she was alright.

I agree that there are some minor issues at this (and every) hospital and sadly this is something we shouldn't encounter as patients but considering the volume of people who go through every day (and also consider that most of Kent uses Kings as a Hospital for operations) then I am not surprised at what you encountered but I am pleased to see that it isn't something we hear about everyday (as in Kings is totally disfunctional)

I think sadly, in hospitals there are a lot of good people working their socks off to cope with the demands and as always a few lesser good people who when they have a bad day it seems to get noticed by everyone around them, in general most of the time I have encountered Kings (and other) Hospitals the staff are the ones who always make the difference.

So hats off to the staff at Kings, and dear Louisiana I am so sorry to hear that you encountered so many problems this morning and I hope this is isolated for you and that next time you go it will proceed without incident for you.

[eclectic]

Im in agreement with LuvPeckham here, having worked in many hospitals brighton, eastbourne, hastings, guy's, st thomas, lewisham, generally on the whole the care at King's is brilliant, it has a fantastic a&e department, great facilities, 2 ct scanners and on the whole it is generally well staffed! Sorry to hear about the experience you've had Louisiana- but given the sheer number of people who are treated each day at king's i think its inevitable that admin errors will happen.

[Fuschia]

Funny what you say about audiology. Received a letter about an appt for my son.. the appt was the day before! Called to complain, was told that they have no more appts to offer until they employ a locum. Now my gp has written to me to tell me off for missing the appt.

[MrsClive3300]

Fuschia - I have received a letter from Audiology as well with an appt for my son - I have never made an appt for my son to go to there..... Its so strange, we will go though, maybe they are just offering to all children?

[Fuschia]

MrsClive3300 Wrote:

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> Fuschia - I have received a letter from Audiology

> as well with an appt for my son - I have never

> made an appt for my son to go to there..... Its so

> strange, we will go though, maybe they are just

> offering to all children?

Maybe that's our appointment! :-)

Newborn babies get seen, btw, for a newborn check.. is that it? My son is 6 and seems a bit deaf. Hence our request to be referred,, which was 4m ago, now!

[Fuschia]

I had a bad experience with early pg scanning, with my twins. Consultant told us to make a return appt for the next week.. receptionist was adamant she couldn't do it, they didn't ever give appts, and we'd have to come and queue at the drop in. Which we did, and after waiting for 2h, I was quite unwell. When we finally got in, told the consultant, and asked why she'd said make an appt, if such a thing isn't possible. She told us that the proble was that the receptionist didn't know HOW to make appts on the computer!!!

[Jessie]

I spent last Tuesday in A&E - what you'd expect with waiting time and strange people in the waiting room, but the staff were kind, courteous and incredibly efficient. No complaints from me.

[Strawbs]

I was in A & E once there and they were fantatsic, I went to the emergency dental surgery there and they were great, I went to the assisted conception unit there and there are no words to describe how utterly imcompetent they were.. Im on the fence on this one!

[jimbo1964]

I went last week to get my broken hand fixed and everyone was fantastic. I was seen x-rayed and patched up in no time.

[Bizzy]

I once got a cancer diagnosis letter from Kings along with my appointment letter. It was days before I was due to go in and have a lump looked at. The diagnosis letter was for someone else but it had somehow been included with my appointment letter. I took the letter with me to my appointment and handed it to the receptionist there who looked very embarrassed about it.

Another time I turned up to an appointment 5 minutes early, and was called in immediately. The waiting room was packed and I felt really bad just turning up and going in as you usually prepare yourself for a long wait. Some of the other patients had clearly been waiting longer than me one of them shouted out that her appointment was an hour before.

I've never had problems with the specialist staff at Kings. I find the administration is a bit poor, and when you're dealing with sensitive information the administration has to be spot on.

[TillieTrotter]

The children's A&E staff are absolutely lovely. I have spent a fair bit of time there in recent months unfortunately and can't praise them enough.(tu)

[BARA]

Husband at home got one of these automated calls reminding me of an appointment. He answered 'yes' I would be attending. I knew nothing about appointment ( he had got confused with another one at a different dept) tried ringing back no joy. few weeks later got letter to say I failed to turn up, emailed that did not have a letter advising me of appointment. New appointment made, turned up, consultant wanted to know why I was there, explained situation and had a letter 'signed' by him, he did some tests as I had turned up, but it turned out that my previous tests were clear so did not need to attend. he apologised and blamed it onto computors. I was in and out within 20 mins so no complaints.

Working at Kings I know that there have been masses of bed shortages, red alerts and high staff sickness. Currently seeing patients on general wards from Lewisham, Lambeth, Croydon, Wandswoth and Merton - pressume that bed shortages and A & E overload has resulted in ambulance crews having to find spaces where ever they can. KCH is far better than Lewisham in some respects especially if you are trying to get info from wards re patient.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

I think Kings is ok, I have good experiences with Audiology and I ended up in A and E on a drip over christmas, the waiting was not as bad as I thought it would be and they did look after me well but I guess it all depends on what day you catch them on, I am having baby there so might have a whole different story to tell in the future!

[dulwichmum]

Poor Louisiana,

It sounds as though you had a dreadful time.

[Jimbob]

its the same with hospitals the whole country over, people will always complain about their local one no matter how bad or good it is, they will always complain.

saying that i was supposed to get an audiology appt, so far heard nothing.

[Fuschia]

Jimbob Wrote:

> saying that i was supposed to get an audiology

> appt, so far heard nothing.

sic?

[ThinLizzy]

What do people in ED think about the Maudsley? I've just moved to the area and have been working there for years in research -- it would be interesting to hear what the general local view is of the 'hospital across the road'!

[Sue]

Fuschia Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Jimbob Wrote:

>

> > saying that i was supposed to get an audiology

> > appt, so far heard nothing.

>

>

> sic?

xxxxxx

:))

[buggie]

Louisiana - sounds like you had a rubbish time (esp with the rudeness of the opthalmologist), so I advise you put everything you detailed in your opening comment in a letter or email to the PALS (patient advocacy and liason)dept at Kings.

As with any large organisation it's impossible for it to always be known what is going on at all times.

All complaints have to be addressed by the dept's involved and fed back to the complainant.

Roughly, you can get everything off your chest (as you have done here) only with feedback from the hospital, and the happy glow of knowing you might've helped instigate change for the better.

If you're having crap service is always worth looking out for the PAL's leaflets or even asking staff for one - if it's Mon-Fri 9-5 you can even pop into their office (nr the main entrance).

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Thin Lizzy

I think generally The Maudsley arouses no strong feeling. On the whole it's a very good service which was threatened with closures in the recent past, no?

I remember it back in 1994 for having Jonty Rhodes in overnight after he got bonked on the head by a bouncer at the Oval test!

My only negative experience is that a shit I knew who beat his wife and applied a hot iron to her body, ripped her hair out, etc, managed to hoodwink the whole mental health team and ended up at The Maudsley instead of prison.

[Sue]

ThinLizzy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> What do people in ED think about the Maudsley?

> I've just moved to the area and have been working

> there for years in research -- it would be

> interesting to hear what the general local view is

> of the 'hospital across the road'!

xxxxxxx

Probably more people in ED will have had experiences in King's than with the Maudsley.

And those who have had experiences with the Maudsley are perhaps not likely to broadcast them all over the ED Forum, whether they were positive or negative.

Just a thought :)

[parsnip-io]

louisiana Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>

> And then on to the opthalmologist. What a 'mare.

> Treated me like an imbecile. I'd clearly received

> a letter, according to her, as I was there. She

> hadn't heard of Choose and Book (by phone), and

> didn't seem bothered in finding out now. I must be

> lying or stupid, was the tenor of her words. But

> she couldn't care less, "It's nothing to do with

> me!", she shouted at close quarters. Imagine

> somebody with their fingers stuck in their ears

> going "Ooooooo, I can't hear you..." in a loud

> voice, and you get the measure of the encounter.

> (A comparison: I recently went to an appointment

> at Moorfields eye hospital, and there could not

> have been a greater chasm between the two

> opthalmologists.) I don't know if she behaves the

> same way to all patients, but if she was my

> employee and behaved in such a way she'd be out of

> the door pronto.

>

Interesting. I was taken to A&E last year with an emergency eye problem, and saw a particularly rude opthalmologist (female, and, I thought from her accent possibly E. European - same one Louisiana?). She kept me waiting, alone, for nearly an hour (and virtually blind due to the drops in my eyes) while she went off to find some piece of equipment in another building - over the road. She then came back and started ranting loudly about how inept the department and its facilities were. Slammed drawers, cursed the equipment, and was generally aggressive in her manner. Quite frankly the last thing I needed while sat there terrified as to what was happening with my sight. Was just glad to get out. Felt she was annoyed that she had to see a patient at all (agree - Moorfields, as a specialist hospital, is the better choice for eye problems).

The episode shocked me as whenever I have been at Kings, for whatever reason, I have always been incredibly impressed and reassured by the medical staff (my daughter being alive today is something I have to thank them for). And, sadly, as with most NHS establishments (Kings not the only case) the admin does tend to be shambolic; you have to drive the whole process yourself or complain to get anywhere in, or up, the system.

[Amelie]

Complaints about a hospital should not only be sent to the PALS office but also to the Chief Executive, who is under a statutory duty to investigate all complaints (worth putting that in the letter too). Failure to keep proper records is not only dangerous, it is also a breach of the Code issued by the Information Commissioner. I would suggest that you drop a line to the ICO as well.

[Nero]

I suggest you put your concerns in writing to the chief executive and copy it to the head of the department that caused you problems. You've managed to do it here, so it shouldn't take you long. Please do it. Writing on the EDF will have no effect whatsoever. Writing to the people who manage the workers who served you badly will.